My Bollywood Wedding by Rekha Waheed

My Bollywood Wedding by Rekha Waheed
Buy My Bollywood Wedding by Rekha Waheed at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Women's Fiction
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: Maya Malik wants a glamorous wedding but as things go wrong will there be any wedding at all? An entertaining and enlightening read.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 352	Date: December 2010
Publisher: Little Black Dress
ISBN: 978-0755356140
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Maya Malik set her heart on a big, glamorous wedding to Jhanghir Khan but organising it was difficult as the groom-to-be was working as a doctor in New York and Maya was arranging the wedding in London. Maya's family are rich, but Jhanghir's family are – seriously so – and this is only part of the tensions which looked to be on track to derail the wedding. There's a sister-in-law who's determined to take over all the arrangements – without disguising her dislike of Maya – and a George-Clooney-lookalike cousin whom Maya finds far too attractive for her own good. And Jhanghir? Well, he's a man. He's busy and he's not that good at communicating. Is there any wonder that Maya begins to wonder if she's doing the right thing?

When I began this book I was concerned that I wasn't going to enjoy it. I'm never that impressed by stories based on misunderstandings but the joy of this story is that Maya and Jhanghir are from a traditional Bengali community and it's brilliant to see the effect that this has on their actions and way of thinking. When she has a problem Maya goes to the mosque to think it through. The book's sexy but there's no sex – if that doesn't sound like a contradiction in terms – and Maya's emphasis is always on doing the right thing by her family and her beliefs. I've read several books about Moslems – but this is the one that really pointed up to me what it's like to live the life.

That might make the book sound very virtuous and unexciting. Yes – there is virtue there but there's also a plot which simply wouldn't let me put the book down until I found out what happened. The cover might lead you to think you're buying chick-lit – and if that's what you're after you'll get a good story – but there's also an intelligent and thoughtful story in there. I was particularly interested in the racism within the Bengali community – the upset which is caused when one of the women decides to marry a coloured man. The shame of it. He's from the West Indies.

I read the book in a couple of sittings and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

Bengali weddings, we're told, are about food. If you'd like to know more about the food we can recommend India with Passion by Manju Malhi. We're sure that you'll also enjoy Saris and the City also by Rekha Waheed.

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