I read this book when I was in the cruise to Alaska. It was entertaining, funny and kept me company when my 17 month old was napping and I had to keep guard inside our tiny stateroom. Suneel, an anesthesiologist who is independent and abominates the way things work in India, escapes the Indian way and lives the life he had always desired in the Bay Area in US and Leila, who has lived in India for long enough to have accepted things there but still is interesting and versatile, come together in an arranged marriage. How they come to like each other and things work out between them against all odds is the gist of the story.
Even though the story is set in the most recent times showing the cultural clash between the two countries, the way that Anne Cherian has sketched the characters in the book reminded me very much of the characters from Jane Austen's, 'Pride and Prejudice'. The handsome rich guy who is proud and looks down on the girl but is still drawn by her beauty and interesting persona, the simple family that Leila comes from with two other sisters and the desperate mother who wants to get her daughter's married away, the aunt who has married off her children and looking out for other matches to make, the 'girlfriend', who is desirable but not well suited - all of these characters are remnants of Jane Austen's ingenuity adapted by Anne Cherian.
Even though Anne Cherian emulates Jane Austen, she has made it interesting by being creative with the plot. In this case the cultural and ideological conflicts among the characters and the entertaining stage set between two people from different backgrounds makes it an enjoyable read.
