At the beginning 'Love Marriage' appears to be a straight forward novel about the engagement and future marriage of Yasmin and Joe. But of course it is much more than that. This novel explores all the relationships in the wider circle of family and friends around the young couple. It is fascinating - just when you think you know what is going to happen, Ali throws in another twist and something completely different unfolds instead.

I even like how the title relates to the book. Does it mean 'love' and 'marriage' or does 'love marriage' relate to the non 'arranged' marriage of both Yasmin's parents and her and Joe's relationship? I think it can mean whatever you want it to mean but it is perhaps a very clever play on words.

This is already a Times bestseller and is a very enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

The plot of this story sounds like it would be right up my street - a culture-clashing romance with a juicy history of sexual secrets and an emotionally-rocky engagement. Yet, I couldn't even make it through a quarter of the book.

I found the lengthy details tedious, especially when describing an aspect of life I have zero interest in, such as cooking techniques or numerous patients' histories.

With lack of grit keeping me turning pages (and after three very determined attempts to tackle it again) I have given up. Sorry. Other people have loved it, but apparently it's not for me.

Wonderfully timely family saga about the truth, lies and all the grey spaces in relationships. Ali weaves a world of social and cultural ties and expectations - very current and genuine characters. A very 2022 family saga!

Oh how I loved this literary novel of relationships and marriage. It's funny and moving. It shows that people are capable of so much, and that there's always more to learn.
When Yasmin takes her family to meet the high-powered mother of her fiancée Joe, there is the expected culture clash. The two families become enmeshed in unexpected ways and many secrets and resentments are revealed.
And it's so entertaining and doesn't take itself too seriously which is such a joy.

A slow burner, with a rather ponderous start, this book develops into a complex story of family relationships.

A story of complex relationships of culture, relationships, faith, family and love.
A story that covers a lot of different territory with many different pov. At times it felt like there was too much going on but overall a good read.

Loved this book! Up and down …. In and out…. The characters move through the book abs the story line with energy and humour. It’s a really interesting tale of modern lives and culture and it’s sad and funny at the same time .

We all make assumptions, put people into boxes without question, but we are so often wrong. This book makes you re think everything you take for granted about what makes the people around us, what makes us.

A wonderful and touching portrait of family life, the collision of culture and expectation and discovering what love really means after all. A very good read indeed.

I really enjoyed this book, I genuinely raced through it in less than two days. Wonderful, really memorable characters who felt very realistic. It felt like a very fun (and funny!) read, while also dealing really well with weightier themes in contemporary society. I think it will appeal to a crossover of romance and family drama readers.

Maybe a little slow right at the start but a really enjoyable and compelling read. Darkly funny in places too.

It all gets interesting when Yasmin Ghorami takes her family to meet the mother of her fiancée Joe. Her parents are from Bengal and they like things exact and proper so when they meet Joe’s mum Harriet, who is a free speaking feminist firebrand, you know things are bound to get interesting.
The book doesn’t disappoint, a wonderful novel which takes a look at modern multi cultural Britain with its class, culture and race issues.
A wonderful array of characters whose lives and relationships are all altered during the novel. The novel is thought provoking but also has plenty of humour and a book I enjoyed that I would highly recommend.

I really enjoyed reading this story of love in all it's forms. Ali's prose rolls off the tongue like butter and the narrative keeps on giving the more you read.

A lovely book. Great characters and you really get invested in their lives. Definitely recommend it, and as always Monica Ali never disappoints!

This book was brilliant!! The pace of the story was good and I found myself doing the old "just one more chapter" pretty much the whole way through...

The story follows Yasmin who is just about to marry her fiancée Joe but their families have never met. It tells the story of their meeting, and the issues that arise from not just the meshing of two families, but two cultures together and hoping that love will see it through. Its deep, thought provoking and incredibly relevant and I would highly recommend it.
Thanks to Monica Ali, Virago and Netgalley for the ARC.

I remember reading Brick Lane when it was first published. I've reread it since. It's one of my favourites. I was really looking forward to getting lost in a new Monica Ali book and that is probably why I did not love this, I think my expectations were too high.

Love Marriage is set in London in 2016/17. Yasmin Ghorami is a 26 year old junior doctor, as is her Indian born father and she is engaged to Joe Sangster, another doctor. Joe's mother is a wealthy, outspoken writer and feminist. Their families are very different. As they begin to plan their wedding, the difference in their families and backgrounds comes to the fore. Yasmin's parents had a " love marriage" and Yasmin begins to question what a such marriage looks like and what she wants from her life. She questions her profession, her relationship and all the things she thought wanted in life. A series of events leads to family divisions, infidelities , secrets and arguments. The book interweaves themes of class, racism as Brexit looms in UK throughout the story. These elements were very much in the background to the relationships and family dynamics but were probably the elements that most interested me.

Its well written as you'd expect but it just fell a bit short for me. Some parts were hard to believe, I didn't really buy into Yasmin and Joe's relationship although I did really like Yasmin as a character. It just felt a bit flat in parts although did hold my interest until the conclusion. If my expectations had not been as high, maybe I would have enjoyed this more.

3.5 ***

Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Summary:
Newly engaged, Yasmin and Joe are planning to break their happy news to their parents at a family dinner hosted by Joe’s mother. Yasmin, the daughter of Indian immigrants, dread to think how her parents would respond to Harriet – Joe’s white, liberal feminist, upper-class mother. The meeting of the two families eventually leads to long-buried family secrets being exposed, ultimately impacting Yasmin’s relationships with her family, Joe, and herself.

Final thoughts:
Monica Ali returns with another rich, nuanced novel on relationships; and sprinkled with her astute observations on race, gender, and class in contemporary British society. I greatly enjoyed Brick Lane, and Monica Ali did not disappoint with Love Marriage! As with Brick Lane, Monica Ali writes multi-dimensional protagonists whose beliefs/ motivations you can empathise with, even if they somehow come across as prickly (at least when you are first introduced to them).
Unfortunately, I think the supporting characters and subplots in Love Marriage were underdeveloped and did not really add to the story, perhaps with the exceptions of Mrs Antonova and Flame; and with the exception of Yasmin’s employment at the National Health Service (as someone working at the NHS, Monica Ali hits the nail on the head).
All in all, I would highly recommend this if you enjoyed Monica Ali’s Brick Lane and/or Roopa Farooki’s Bitter Sweets; with its nuanced, layered take on relationships (both familial and marital).
Many thanks to Netgalley, the author and publishers for an advanced e-copy (in spite of the extremely belated review!).

“Love Marriage is a story about who we are and how we love in today's Britain - with all the complications and contradictions of life, desire, marriage and family. What starts as a captivating social comedy develops into a heart-breaking and gripping story of two cultures, two families and two people trying to understand one another.”

So states the blurb for this wonderfully entertaining, multilayered joy of a novel by Monica Ali. Shrewdly observed and richly imagined, it is bold, authentic and utterly addictive. I devoured it in two greedy sittings.

What Ali has delivered here is a masterclass in character-driven narrative. Two families — the Ghoramis and the Sangsters — entrenched on opposite sides of a yawning social and cultural divide, are about to be united in marriage. The Ghoramis, a migrant Indian Muslim family; the Sangsters, a wealthy, libertarian, single-parent British family, headed by celebrity feminist Harriet. Bridging the two — or at least trying to — is engaged couple, Yasmin and Joe.

When the families meet for the first time to talk about wedding plans, the scene is set for an unraveling of beliefs, dark secrets and betrayals that threatens the stability of both the Ghoramis and the Sangsters, as well as the “love marriage” of Yasmin and Joe.

There really is so much to enjoy in this book. Ali’s lampooning of stereotypes — which is incisive but never unkind — had me repeatedly chuckling and nodding my head knowingly. Her characters — all of them flawed, all of them with a soft underbelly of vulnerability — are in turn amusing, tragic, even outrageous. But they are all inherently human, and I found myself completely invested in their individual journeys and their quest for resolution and happiness.

Ali’s narrative may be spiked with a rich dose of humor, but it is also a serious commentary on class and culture and the melting pot that is 21st century Britain. That she “marries” the two so well is what makes this an outstanding and utterly compelling read.

A wonderfully engrossing and rich story of families coming together, friends meeting and growing together, work, fun, social life, all of the things that go into making a modern life function. I loved the characters of Yasmin and Joe, and their extended families - the characters and the issues that they face felt very real and now. The story is written with love and compassion for its cast, but doesnt offer them an easy way out. i was gripped from the start and couldnt wait to find out more. Loved it!

It is many years since I read Brick Lane and I was delighted to have the opportunity to read Love Marriage. This is a huge book in every way; it covers so many important subjects, including racial discrimination, feminism, class, gender politics, sex, discrimination and more.
A great cast of memorable characters and a fantastic story, it drew me in. I loved it.
With grateful thanks to Netgalley, Virago and Monica Ali first my copy.