A Suitable Boy

A Suitable Boy

A Suitable Boy is a novel by Vikram Seth, published in 1993. With 1,349 pages or 1,488 pages soft cover, and 591,552 words, the English language book is one of the longest novels published in a single volume. A sequel, to be called A Suitable Girl, was due for publication in 2017. As of 2020 this was still unpublished.

About A Suitable Boy in brief

Summary A Suitable BoyA Suitable Boy is a novel by Vikram Seth, published in 1993. With 1,349 pages or 1,488 pages soft cover, and 591,552 words, the English language book is one of the longest novels published in a single volume. The novel alternately offers satirical and earnest examinations of national political issues in the period leading up to the first post-Independence national election of 1952. A sequel, to be called A Suitable Girl, was due for publication in 2017. As of 2020 this was still unpublished. In an article that appeared in the Khaleej Times on 4 November 2019, Seth was quoted as saying that he had not yet devised an ending for the book. The book is divided into 19 parts with, generally, each part focusing on a different subplot. It begins in the fictional town of Brahmpur, located along the Ganges between Banares and Patna. Lata Mehra is a 19-year-old university student who refuses to be influenced by her domineering mother or opinionated brother, Arun.

Her story revolves around the choice she is forced to make between her suitors Kabir, Haresh, and Amit. She is approached several times by a boy her own age and after a few meetings feels she has already fallen in love with him. She learns his name is Kabir Durrani and is distressed when she realises he is Muslim as her Hindu family would never allow her to marry a Muslim man. Ultimately Lata agrees to go with her mother to Calcutta to live with her arrogant older brother Arun, who is already married. She meets her sister-in-law Meenakshi’s eccentric family, the Chatterjis, and bonds with her older brother, Amit, an England-educated poet who is under pressure from his family to grow up and marry. By accident Lata is introduced to Haresh Khanna and she decides he is suitable for Lata. Despite the ridiculous idea of marrying Haresh Lata, Lata finds herself reuniting with Veena after she reunites with her son-law.