Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal Reviewed By Varsha M Kaushik (Bangalore)
There are several things I loved about the book!
First, all of the references to Indian and Pakistani culture. At the end of the day, we share similar cultures in terms of our language, our cuisines, our expressions and the type of people we surround ourselves with. It was so easy to love this beautiful re-telling because of the wonderful setting that it was based in! I found myself giggling at every use of the language that I'm so familiar with, and the witty jokes on mainstream South Asian, particularly Indian and Pakistani culture really had me go 'Daaamnnnn.'
Second, the author has done a wonderful job with the re-telling! Her witty word play with the characters' names (Darsee and Alys are my favorite, along with Kaleen xD) and how beautifully she managed to make them all so close to and yet distinct from the characters I've come to love from JA's original P&P really made me love the book a lot.
Third, and most importantly, her take on the issues that plague our society. Take a bow Soniah Ji, you've done a fantastic job with this book, and I salute you for your amazing depiction of the patriarchism, and the misogynistic values that plague our society and how strong, educated female characters can rise to combat that and be their amazing badass selves! Hats off to your for the cultural depiction of such great female characters set in our society. There was also brilliant representation of male characters like Mr.Binat, Darsee, Bungles and Raghav Kumar too, making them really great models for every young boy to look up to.
All in all, I'd like to sum up my review with this one line:
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Pride and Prejudice is a classic that is simply one of a kind. Nothing will ever be as great as the original. But this re-telling comes very close to it, and really, kudos to you, Soniah Ji, because it's brilliant, hard-hitting and beautifully written! 💯❤️