“Love Marriage” - Monica Ali

 

🩺 It’s no wonder Ali was shortlisted for the Booker Prize; her writing style is immersive. She crafts fully 3D characters. LM was a treat to read as the reader gets to step into the shoes of every character in turn and also, holy plot twist alert!

🩺 Yasmin Ghorami is many things. She is British, Indian, Muslim, Bengali, a physician, a daughter, a sister, and a fiancee. At first blush, I thought this novel would be about Yasmin’s upcoming marriage to Joe Sangster, a white, non-Muslim Brit. Her parents are remarkably supportive of her decision, which is downright progressive for Indian immigrant parents of that generation. The early portions of the book juxtapose Yasmin’s parents’ obvious love and support of Yasmin with her self-loathing, and really puts the latter into sharp focus. TBH I was repelled by Yasmin.

🩺 But once I got a little further in, I realized that this is not your average tale of the 1st generation experience, aka the trials and tribulations of British kids raised by Indian immigrant parents. There are many more layers in LM - both immigrant and non-immigrant alike. Yasmin’s “love marriage is not the only (and arguably not even the main) titular reference to such marriages. Also, it turns out, it’s not really Yasmin who is the star of this novel. 

🩺 IMO this is actually Anisah’s tale told through the extremely biased POV of her daughter. This is a delightful surprise! Where Yasmin is grating and whiny, Anisah is an unsung hero. Seen exclusively through Yasmin’s eyes, we come to realize that Yasmin - with so many issues of her own - is hardly the reliable narrator. Plus, Ali crystalizes the reality that children rarely see their parents for who they really are outside of their caregiver roles. Anisah’s family keeps “bundling her away” and later Yasmin is resentful for what she thinks Anisah didn’t tell her. But Yasmin never asks if she ever indicated her own readiness to listen without judgement.

🩺 If you enjoy LM, I’d recommend Min Jin Lee’s “Free Food for Millionaires”.