A Convenient Marriage
Apr. 6th, 2023 10:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearI picked up A Convenient Marriage by Jeevani Charika at my local station book exchange. Based on the design of the cover (colour, font, art style), I was expecting a lighthearted rom-com and was worried it might be too silly for my tastes. What I got was a mostly desperately sad, but layered and well-written, exploration of familial obligations and societal pressure to conform.
The blurb on the back of the book unfortunately gave away about half the plot. And the background information scattered throughout the present-day narrative rather reduced the tension of the flashback scenes by revealing too much.
But overall, I loved both the main characters, I really felt for their situations and I enjoyed the development of the relationship between them. I also loved the portrayal of university life in Oxford in the 90s, as it brought back a lot of good memories for me.
After all the heartbreak and very serious relationship dilemmas, the ending felt a bit too neat, but I'm happy to forgive that!
The blurb on the back of the book unfortunately gave away about half the plot. And the background information scattered throughout the present-day narrative rather reduced the tension of the flashback scenes by revealing too much.
But overall, I loved both the main characters, I really felt for their situations and I enjoyed the development of the relationship between them. I also loved the portrayal of university life in Oxford in the 90s, as it brought back a lot of good memories for me.
After all the heartbreak and very serious relationship dilemmas, the ending felt a bit too neat, but I'm happy to forgive that!
