“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.

Love Marriage is a delicious book that you will want to retreat into, so complete is the world that Ali has created. Akin to Brick Lane, Ali's new book centres around the relationships and interactions between the culture of Bengal and that of contemporary London. What begins as an examination of the love story of Yasmin and Joe as they plan their wedding gradually pulls in multifaceted threads as ideologies, cultures and long held beliefs are tested. The layering of plotlines as the novel progresses enriches the reading experience and heightens the realistic tone of the piece,

Wow this book did not disappoint at all, it was such a joy to read, written so well you got know each of the characters in depth. Love marriage was more than just a story of who you choose to marry, a must read in my opinion
Thank you for the chance to read this amazing book.

Really glad to have a new Monica Ali to read! Loved the light hearted tone of this whilst covering some harder hitting topics like mixed marriages, our relationships to our parents and what it's like to be the children of immigrants. I liked that some of the chapters are written from the perspective of different characters so there the reader has a really well rounded view of everyone's experience, without taking away from Yasmin's story as the key character.

I really really enjoyed reading this book. It raised so many relevant, thought provoking issues, in an engaging way without losing the pace of the story. Her characters were all different with different issues but also managed to be empathetic. Lots of humerous moments throughout Quite a few twists and turns I didnt see coming A must read

Another winner from Monica Ali.
Yasmin and Joe are from two different cultures who find commin ground in their work and are preparing for marriage. As the story progresses the lives of their parents become entangled. Joe's upbtinging has been chaotic, bohemian and unusual; Yasmin on the other hand has a typical English Bengali famly. The novel starts with the couple obviously very much in love and preparing for their wedding. As the story progresses we follow Yasmin's attempts to recognise whether love is enough, while dealing her parents' complicated and difficult lives, her wayward brother, Joe's anxieties and her future mother in law's eccentricities. This is an absorbing and clever book, filled with humours and wit. It is peopled with a variety of characters, particularly the mothers whose pasts harbour secrets.
Monica Ali has triumphed again with this complex examination of what love and marriage mean in 21st century England.

Love Marriage is about Yasmin a South Asian woman who is engaged to be married to Joe, a white British man. I was expecting the story to be about the cultural differences between the two, but what I actually read was a couple who had no cultural differences! I found most of the characters unlikable, for example Yasmin who is a doctor who is really quite silly, and selfish and Joe is quite dull at times. I think what really felt unrealistic to me was how Anisha, Yasmin's mother, who is a devout Muslim is perfectly ok with her daughter marrying someone who isn't a Muslim, sex outside of marriage, alcohol consumption and illegitimate children amongst other issues. I think what really annoyed me the most is this is just another story of Muslims who do anything but practice their faith, I actually see no point in having a story where the characters are Muslims, they could actually have been any background. The book also felt overly long at times, with a lot of medical detail that wasn't really needed. The only redeeming features were I liked Anisha's arc and I liked Pepperdine, and I thought the ending was hopeful, but on the whole a disappointing and quite infuriating read, which is a shame as Monica Ali has a enjoyable writing style. I give this a 2.5 out of 5.

Monica Ali delivers such intricate observations of family, of love and above all, of the complexities of being human.

Yasmin is engaged to Joe. Her biggest worry is her parents meeting his mother, Harriet, who is a huge influence in his life, and a successful feminist writer. She's somewhat embarassed by her parents. But all goes well.

But life rapidly begins to unravel. Joe confesses infidelity. She then begins an affair. She's having massive doubts about her chosen career and her unemployed brother has got his girlfriend pregnant. When their father finds out their whole family becomes fractured.

As Yasmin tries to come to terms with her own infidelity, she is plagued with worry about her parents and brother. When her niece is born and becomes sick, the family rift seems to be healed.

She confesses to Joe, and they split up.

And for the first time, she learns the truth about her parents love marriage.

There is also social commentary in this story. Questions about identity and culture. But also, a powerful glimpse into the increasing bureaucracy that is destroying all that our belived NHS should stand for.

I really enjoy all of Monica Ali's work, and this is no exception. Absorbing and life affirming, this is everything I look for in a book.

Brick Lane by Monica Ali was one of the first novels I read when I moved to the UK in 2008. So I was excited when I saw Love Marriage available on NetGalley.  This book kept me up a few nights, including last night until half past midnight. I wanted to know what would happen to the characters!

What I loved:
- The vast array of characters from a range of backgrounds and ages. Some of my favourites were Rania, the main character's hijab-wearing friend, and Anisah, the mum, whose character arc was fascinating
- The reflexions about religion - I learned quite a few things about Islam
- The main character's internal dialogue and struggles with societal expectations of her, an Asian muslim woman, junior doctor in the UK. I loved the incident with the racist woman in particular 
- The therapy sessions about family relationships
- The little plot twists, even thought it was mainly a character-driven book
- The ending 😊

I was going to start a section about what bothered me, but I can't quite put my finger on it. I think that perhaps there were a few too many loose threads? A couple of the characters also seemed caricatural (Arif the brother; some of the doctors) There were also passages about diseases and doctors which lost me a bit, but this is my highly subjective opinion. I'm not sure how to define the book's genre; it's definitely not romance.

Overall I really liked this book and it's made me want to read Ali's other books, and perhaps re-read Brick Lane too. Thank you @NetGalley and @littlebrownbookgroup_uk for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Call me an uncultured heathen but this just did not do it for me. Maybe I am too much of a country bumpkin but I could not get interested in the characters, I was not terribly interested in the metropolitan life and I ended up thinking about cleaning out my cupboards. Do not worry - I found another book and my cupboards are still filthy!

Yasmin Ghorami has always believed her parents to have had a perfect 'love marriage', a chance encounter leading to romance and happily-ever-after despite the difficulties they faced, establishing themselves in Britain and striving to provide the best for their children. Now she believes she's found the same herself - a fellow doctor, handsome, kind, caring, someone she's sure will make a good husband and father. Her only worry is how her traditional Muslim parents will get on with Joe's feminist, liberal, outspoken mother.

As the publisher's blurb says, "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."

Yasmin and Joe are in love, their wedding set for a few months' time, and all appears to be going well till their mothers get involved and take over the planning. Under the surface though, both of them have issues that need to be sorted before they finally commit, and as their mothers start to get to know each other a whole raft of family secrets come tumbling out. The foundations on which both Yasmin and Joe have built their lives suddenly seem very rocky.

It's funny (though I felt a little uncomfortable being a white Englishwoman laughing at Indian stereotypes), warm, compassionate, forgiving. Although it deals with issues surrounding class and culture, it is first and foremost a story about people, about how we define ourselves, and about the stories we tell to make sense of who we are.

I'd heard of Monica Ali but hadn't read her work before. Now I feel I should dash out and immerse myself in her back catalogue.

I was really looking forward to this: I loved Brick Lane and I really enjoy stories about first- and second-generation emigrants and culture clashes. However, I was disappointed in this one. None of the characters were sympathetic and the author didn't even seem to like them; in fact, worse, it felt like she was mocking all of them. I don't mind unsympathetic characters in a novel or a "cold" author but this gave me nothing to hold onto. The hospital parts seemed there to talk about junior doctors, which is fine, but so much detail about individual patients did bloat it a bit. I found myself more concerned about the mechanics of the period sex scene (surely it'd have gone through to the mattress) and then at half-way realised I wasn't bothered what happened or about any of the characters and unfortunately had to give up. I felt like it was all telling, not showing - and I had really wanted to like this book!

Monica Ali returns with a bang. Yasmin,a young doctor, is set to marry Joe in a “ love marriage”. Yasmin is from a Bengali family and Joe from a very different bohemian background. She is conservative in her ways whereas Joe hides sexual issues. The two families come together at Joe’s mothers home and so Yasmin’s world erupts and lives are blown apart and reevaluated.

In this book Monica Ali does what she does well: tell a character-driven story that focusses on family dynamics and very often character flaws. Nonetheless, she writes in a way that you will emphasize with the characters – at least to some extent. I actually struggled a little bit to really like them in this instance.
This book is essentially a family drama and I’m not going to lie: While I enjoyed it, it won’t appeal to everyone. There’s – in fact – quite a bit of drama, most of the characters have some sort of secret or at least something they are trying to hide/present in a different light. It’s also a slightly longer book and often detailed – this is in line with Ali’s usual writing but won’t be for everyone. The book is diverse as it follows a white British family and a family of South Asian immigrants to the UK (in which we see different embodiments of being British and Muslim). As such the story is spiced with political and social commentary on race, class, religion and identity in modern Britain. It’s a good book by gifted writer and some ways I feel the topic and the setting are more widely appealing than “Brick Lane”, even if the latter was probably the better/more important book.

One of my favourite reads of 2022 so far. Insightful, powerful, educational and real. This is the first book from this author I have read but will definitely not be the last.

I thoroughly enjoyed entering into Yasmin's world and seeing how the apparently well-stacked bricks start to wobble and collapse around her, allowing her to finally discover the truth of her own feelings and the foundations on which they were built. Well written and absorbing to the very end.

Love Marriage by Monica Ali
Having read and loved Brick Lane I was eagerly anticipating this book and it didn’t disappoint. It is all about Yasmin, the daughter of Indian immigrants training to be a doctor, and Joe, the son of a famous feminist, Harriet Sangster. The story opens with the parents just about to meet each other. Yasmin’s mother is busy cooking huge amounts of food to transport to Joe’s mothers house and her brother is taking great delight in wondering what his parents will make of the explicit nude photos of Harriet he has found.
Joe has some unresolved issues due to the dysfunctional relationship he had with his mother as he was growing up. Yasmin finds herself questioning her feelings about the relationship, sex and the marriage when Joe is unfaithful to her. Additionally her own family is falling apart around her as they battle to accept her brother’s life choices.
I was expecting a complicated novel about an interracial couple and pressures from their families, but it a much larger agenda than this. It is not just about Yasmin and Joe; it deals with religion, loyalty, addiction, sexual assault, motivation, anticipation and also simple friendship.

The characters are extremely well drawn. Each character has their flaws, some many flaws, and yet you still least empathise with them. The writing is excellent and it is therefore easy to read; you become invested in the characters.
It feels as though this book is about real people and real issues. I highly recommend it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Many thanks to the author, the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read it in return for an honest review.

I received this book as e-ARC from the publisher Virago, Little Brown Book Group via The NetGalley. I requested it as the author was new to me and I wanted to expand my literary horizons.

There are multiple storylines in this book: we meet Yasmin and her family, then we read about Joe, his mother Harriet, and therapist Sandor.

Yasmin is a 26 year old junior doctor engaged to a fellow doctor, Joe. She lives with her parents and younger brother, Arif. Her mother came from a wealthy family in Calcutta, whereas her father was a poor village boy. All her life Yasmin was led to believe her parents’ marriage was a ‘love marriage’ and she wishes to experience the same thing.

The book starts when Yasmin’s parents meet Joe’s mother, an outspoken feminist Harriet, who suggests that the couple should have a Muslim wedding. Yasmin feels pressurised to accept. However, when a co-worker confesses to Yasmin that Joe had slept with a nurse, things become very edgy for Yasmin. Of course, she blames herself, but later on decides that she needs to evoke a revenge of her own. That’s how Yasmin begins an affair with another doctor.

As I was reading this book, it struck me that everyone had secrets in this story: Yasmin was trying to hide her infidelity, Joe confessed something to his therapist, which the reader finds out pretty soon as the story unfolds. Much later, we get to Yasmin’s parents secret.

It is a story of two families, a traditional Muslim family, contrasted with a single-parent liberal upbringing. What struck me was that the products of these families, the children, were equally troubled. Yasmin seemed at crossroads in her life: didn’t know whether she wished to continue practising medicine and whether she wanted to be married to Joe. Her brother Arif was living in the shadow of his ‘great’ doctor sister and was constantly arguing with their father. Joe was controlled by his mother all his life and thanks to the therapist, he began to piece his life back together.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Many thanks to Virago and Little Brown Book Group for accepting my NetGalley request.