The Many Conditions Of Love by Farahad Zama
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The Elegance Of The Hedgehog
Following swiftly in the footsteps of his hugely successful first novel, The Marriage Bureau For Rich People, Farahad Zama’s latest offering asks the question of whether love can triumph in the face of fierce family opposition. The story follows characters all connected to Mr Ali who owns a successful marriage bureau. All seems well in Mr Ali’s life but unknown to him, his son, Rehman is having a romantic love affair with a TV journalist, Usha. Meanwhile Mr Ali’s right-hand woman, Aruna is blissfully content with her wonderful husband and opulent mansion. That is until her spiteful sister-in-law Mani comes to stay. All hell breaks loose when Usha’s father finds out about her relationship with Rehman and what on earth will Mr and Mrs Ali say when they discover their son is dating a non-Muslim?
This hilarious take of the complications of Indian arranged marriages and match-making picked up the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance, a prestigious award judged by authors, comedians and literary figures. Farahad Zama lives in south London and started out writing on his daily commute as an escape from his stressful job in the city. Born in Vizag on the Eastern coast of India, Farahad had an arranged marriage to a Vizag girl. They have been happily married for many years and have two sons. Read on to see the rest of Farahad Zama’s top 10 summer reads.
http://www.melissanathan.com/Award/
The Many Conditions Of Love by Farahad Zama, £11.99, amazon.co.uk
The Elegance Of The Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
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The Elegance Of The Hedgehog
It is set in Paris and told in two voices, 54-year-old widowed Renee and 12-year-old Paloma who wants to commit suicide on her 13th birthday. While it is full of philosophy and comments on French society, I actually want to read it because of the title.
The Elegance Of The Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, £5.59,
amazon.co.uk
Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie
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Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie
Starting in Nagasaki just before the Bomb, this book takes us through British India at the time of the partition, then Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan, before ending in a post-9/11 New York. Epic in scope and beautifully written, the characters will stay with you for a long time.
Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie, £7.19,
amazon.co.uk
We Are All Made Of Glue by Marina Lewicka
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We Are All Made Of Glue
I loved A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. That\'s all the recommendation I need to look forward to this, Lewicka\'s third book.
We Are All Made Of Glue by Marina Lewicka, £10.07,
amazon.co.uk
Adventures Of Sally by PG Wodehouse
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The Adventures Of Sally by PG Woodhouse
This is an early book and the occasional rough edge can be seen behind the genius that led to Jeeves. To me, that makes this book even more enjoyable, as if you are being given a glimpse behind the curtains of a master craftsman at work.
Adventures Of Sally by PG Wodehouse, £5.99, amazon.co.uk
Fool\'s Gold by Gillian Tett
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Fool\'s Gold by Gillian Tett
Tett traces the development of credit derivatives and mortgage-backed securities by a team from JP Morgan and shows how a product designed to spread and reduce risk ended up, in the wrong hands, concentrating it and almost destroyed the financial system in the process.
Fool\'s Gold by Gillian Tett, £11.99, amazon.co.uk
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
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Wuthering Heights By Emily Bronte
Love, obsession, revenge – this is not your typical romance. One of the problems with classics is that you are force fed the books when you are too young to appreciate them. I want to read this again, slowly, and may be this time I will find out what Wuthering means.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, £1.99,
amazon.co.uk
The Little Book by Selden Edwards
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The Little Book by Selden Edwards
Written over 33 years, this extraordinary book sweeps us from modern day San Francisco to World War II London and fin-de-siècle Vienna. Incest, betrayal, history, philosophy, psychology, a sweet romance and the perfect way to make a killing on the stock market – what more does a book need?
The Little Book by Selden Edwards, £8.39,
amazon.co.uk
Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
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Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
Lies, damn lies and headlines by lazy journalists. Goldacre, who writes a column by the same name in the Guardian, debunks everybody who tries to peddle anything using bad statistics and pseudo science.
Bad Science by Ben Goldacre, £3.60, amazon.co.uk
The Guernsey Literary And Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
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The Guernsey Literary and Peel Pie Society
Written as a series of letters and telegrams, the book tells the story of the kind of challenges faced by Channel Islanders during the occupation in World War II. I especially liked the fact that the Germans were also depicted as behaving honorably.
The Guernsey Literary And Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows, £3.86, amazon.co.uk
More Summer reading inspiration:
Sally Emerson\'s Top 10 Summer Reads
Adele Parks\' Top 10 Summer Reads
