Bookfanatic reviewed on
This story is set both in the west (America and Canada) and in Sri Lanka of the 1990s to the Sri Lankan Independence and a bit earlier in the island nation's history. It took me a while to get used to the author's style of writing, but once I did, I really enjoyed the story. I've lived part of my life in Colombo, Sri Lanka though not during the period of the ethnic war, so I can vouch for the authenticity of the descriptions of village life, customs and arranged marriages.
I appreciated how the author told the marriage story of so many people in the heroine's family, and she did it so deftly bringing alive each person giving them a distinctive identity and outlook on life. There are love marriages where the two people find each other on their own and get married out of love for each other. This is the form of marriage most common in places like America. There are also arranged marriages. Some of the arranged marriages in the book are quite successful. Some are abysmal failures. There is some mention of domestic violence though it's not particularly long or graphic. I'm just mentioning it in case it's a trigger for a potential reader of this story.
My one quibble with Love Marriage is that nearly all the women in the book are beautiful or very beautiful. Other than that minor issue, I would recommend this story to anyone interested in South Asian literature or the diaspora experience of people who left war torn countries. This book is a keeper. I can't part with it.
I appreciated how the author told the marriage story of so many people in the heroine's family, and she did it so deftly bringing alive each person giving them a distinctive identity and outlook on life. There are love marriages where the two people find each other on their own and get married out of love for each other. This is the form of marriage most common in places like America. There are also arranged marriages. Some of the arranged marriages in the book are quite successful. Some are abysmal failures. There is some mention of domestic violence though it's not particularly long or graphic. I'm just mentioning it in case it's a trigger for a potential reader of this story.
My one quibble with Love Marriage is that nearly all the women in the book are beautiful or very beautiful. Other than that minor issue, I would recommend this story to anyone interested in South Asian literature or the diaspora experience of people who left war torn countries. This book is a keeper. I can't part with it.
