The A-Z Guide to Arranged Marriage

The A-Z Guide to Arranged Marriage is a 2005 romantic comedy novel written by Rekha Waheed about a single Asian woman looking to settle using old traditions and new world savvy.

The A-Z Guide to Arranged Marriage
AuthorRekha Waheed
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish, Bengali
GenreRomance, comedy
PublisherMonsoon Press
Publication date
27 October 2005 (2005-10-27)
Media typePrint
Pages246
ISBN978-0755215003
Followed byMy Bollywood Wedding 

Plot summary

Maya Malik is a 28-year-old single lonely Asian girl who wants an attractive husband and a grand ostentatious wedding. Her biggest fear is the realisation that she has to find a husband from a diminishing stock of eligible bachelors.

From the endless supply of unsuitable grooms-to-be, interfering aunties, broken protocols, to wedding weepers, non-stop community pressures. The novel follows Maya going through being single and the arranged marriage process to realise that she can use old world traditions, and new world savvy to get what she wants.

Maya endures family introductions, blind dates, with Internet meetings in a journey that takes her from London to New York to Dhaka, and then back to London again. When close friend, Jhanghir Rahman, announces his sudden wedding, Maya realises that with love, life and marriage, a girl can use old world traditions, and new world savvy to get what she wants.

Development

In November 2005, Waheed told CyberSylhet.com, A-Z Guide to Arranged Marriage "merges old world tradition with new world savvy".[1] In a February 2011 interview with The Asian Writer she said, she wrote the novel "to dispel myths surrounding the custom and help readers distinguish between the virtues of arranged marriages and the illegality of forced marriages."[2]

Release

Monsoon Press secured A-Z Guide to Arranged Marriage following a reading at London's 2005 Spitalfield's Literary Event.[3] The book was launched at Bangladesh Centre on 17 November 2005. The event was attended by luminaries from Penguin, MBA Literary Agency, Bloomsbury, Saqi Books, Rebecca Winfield Agency, East Side Books, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Local Government, and community organisations.[1]

Critical response

Redhotcurry.com said "The A-Z Guide to Arranged Marriage is a sassy story that unapologetically celebrates the realities of an age-old tradition for the new generation... The book is a contemporary, witty and proud representation of the controversial topic that has already created considerable interest... The A-Z Guide to Arranged Marriage reflects the splendid spirit of Asian traditions that has mass appeal.[3] Helen Fraser, Managing Director of Penguin (UK) called the novel "witty and charming."[1]

Sequel

As a result of the success of this novel, Little Black Dress asked Waheed to write sequel My Bollywood Wedding, which was published in 2010.[2]

gollark: I think that's... technically possible, but why?
gollark: My phone doesn't want to scan it either.
gollark: The one where you can actually see it does look quite neat, yes.
gollark: I don't get what the resolution has to do with this, isn't it just camera config or something?
gollark: Er, I can't see anything except bright colored blobs.

See also

References
  1. Rahman, Emdad (November 2005). "The book launch that bridged the diversity divide". CyberSylhet.com. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  2. Shaikh, Farhana (8 February 2011). "Rekha Waheed". The Asian Writer. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  3. "The A-Z Guide To Arranged Marriage". Redhotcurry.com. 8 February 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
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