Book
The marriage clock : a novel / Zara Raheem.
"To Leila Abid’s traditional Indian parents, finding a husband is as easy as match, meet, marry. Yes, she wants to marry, but after 26 years of singledom, even Leila is starting to get nervous. And to make matters worse, her parents are panicking, the neighbors are talking, and she’s wondering, are her expectations just too high? But for Leila, a marriage of arrangement clashes with her lifelong dreams of a Bollywood romance, where real love happens before marriage, not the other way around. So she decides it’s time to stop dreaming and start dating. It’s an impossible mission of satisfying her parents’ expectations, while also fulfilling her own western ideals of love. But after a series of speed dates, blind dates, online dates and even ambush dates, the sparks just don’t fly! Now, with the marriage clock ticking, and her 3-month deadline looming in the horizon, Leila must face the consequences of what might happen if she doesn’t find 'the one…'"-- from publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780062877925
- ISBN: 0062877925
- Physical Description: 342, 11 pages ; 21 cm
- Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: New York : William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2019.
- Copyright: ©2019.
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Muslim families > Fiction. Muslim women > Fiction. Arranged marriage > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Love stories. |
Available copies
- 3 of 3 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect.
- 1 of 1 copy available at Prince Rupert Library. (Show)
Holds
- 0 current holds with 3 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince Rupert Library | Rahe (Text) | 33294002077170 | Adult Fiction - Second Floor | Volume hold | Available | - |
| Dawson Creek Municipal Public Library | F RAH (Text) | DCL173053 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
| Kitimat Public Library | Rah (Text) | 32665002196154 | Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2019 June #1
Leila Abid is smart, pretty, and in a job she loves. She is living in her parents' house as she figures out her life. On her twenty-sixth birthday, her parents surprise her with a stack of photos: possible future husbands for her. Although Leila does not consider her Indian Muslim parents to be conservative, they keep reminding her that she should be married by now. Initially bowing to their expectations, she agrees to their matchmaking, until a string of awkward encounters has her begging them for some time to find her own Bollywood love story. They give her three months, and then they will arrange her marriage. Leila's attempts are worse than her parents', and she has many hilariously bad dates. Though privileged, Leila starts out with an immature attitude, but after a family wedding in India, she begins to grow up and discover what she wants in life. Raheem's debut uses chick-lit tropes to smartly skewer modern ways of dating and to bring humor to more traditional South Asian ones. Recommended for all public-library collections. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2019 May #2
A South Asian Muslim woman who grew up in Los Angeles has three months to find a husband before her parents plan to arrange a marriage for her. Leila Abid is the American-born daughter of Indian parents who have been happily married for almost 30 years. At 26, nondrinking Leila has been enjoying her quiet routineâwork, regular Tuesday night hangouts with her friendsâand everything in her life has unfolded nicely. Even if she is still living with her parents. But when her parents announce that they will arrange her marriage because of her advanced age, she negotiates a three-month reprieve while she looks for a suitable Muslim man to marry who makes both her and her parents happy. She is not a traditional South Asian Muslim, and her American independence is not something she's willing to compromise on despite her interest in a grand Bollywood-esque love story, as she continually tells herself, her family, and her friends. Leila's thought processes as she grapples with who she is, who her parents are, and what it means to be a Muslim woman jostle for narrative attention in between a series of awkward and un comfortable dates. The first half of the book is choppy and repetitive while Leila is in Los Angeles, but when she travels to India with her mother for a cousin's wedding, the story settles into itself and the lush heat, rich food, and sense of community that surrounds the three-day nuptials. Unfortunately, Leila's final decision packs little punch. Readers expecting a typical fairy-tale ending will be surprised. Copyright Kirkus 2019 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - LJ Express Reviews : LJ Express Reviews
DEBUT Raheem's first novel features Indian American Muslim Leila Abid, age 26 and living with her parents. She's launched a teaching career, but her parents want her to complete her life with a spouse. Leila has always dreamed of a Bollywood-style romance and love before marriage, not after. She quickly decides that she cannot accept her parents completely arranging her marriage and gets them to agree to a three-month deadline before they step in and take the more traditional route for her. Leila sets off on a dating spree to find Mr. Right, using a variety of traditional and nontraditional methods including online dating apps for Muslim singles and even a matchmaker. The author portrays this experience in an authentic and at times funny and heartbreaking way, and Leila's struggles will speak to many. The ending may surprise some readers and make others applaud.
Copyright 2019 LJExpress.VERDICT This charming and humorous novel will appeal to a wide audience and should be an excellent fit for all public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, 1/7/19.]âKristen Stewart, Pearland Lib., Brazoria Cty. Lib. Syst., TX
