A Suitable Boy

THE CLASSIC BESTSELLER AND MAJOR BBC DRAMA

By: Vikram Seth

Narrated by: Sagar Arya

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER AND MODERN CLASSIC: NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES

'A phenomenon, a prodigy, a marvel' Evening Standard

ONE OF THE BBC'S 100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD

A modern classic, this epic tale of families, romance and political intrigue, set in India, never loses its power to delight and enchant readers.

At its core, A Suitable Boy is a love story: the tale of Lata - and her mother's - attempts to find her a suitable husband, through love or through exacting maternal appraisal. At the same time, it is the story of India, newly independent and struggling through a time of crisis as a sixth of the world's population faces its first great general election and the chance to map its own destiny.

'Seth is the best writer of his generation' The Times

'Fiction on a grand scale. By the time you reach the last page you will have absorbed a splendid story, full of the tangle and perfume of India' Sunday Telegraph

'The greatness of the novel, its unassailable truthfulness, owes less to research than to imagination, an instinctive knowledge of the human heart' Observer

'You should make time for it. It will keep you company for the rest of your life' The Times©1993 Vikram Seth

Critic reviews

The best writer of his generation

This novel, so vast and so amiably peopled, is a long, sweet, sleepless pilgrimage to life . . . His novel deserves thousands of long marriages and suitable readers

No one, surely, could wish this novel shorter . . . the greatness of the novel, its unassailable truthfulness, owes less to research than to imagination, an instinctive knowledge of the human heart

Not merely one of the longest novels in English; it may also prove to be the most fecund as well as the most prodigious work of the latter half of [the twentieth] century

A quietly monumental novel . . . [Seth] has given that unlikeliest of hybrids, a modest tour de force

An immensely enjoyable novel which describes with unhurried pace the panorama of India . . . Everything appears familiar to us, yet in fact it is newly minted by a master artist

Conceived on a grand scale of the great 19th century novels - War and Peace, Middlemarch - A Suitable Boy grows to match them in breadth and depth . . . [A] massive and magnificent book

A phenomenon, a prodigy, a marvel of 19th century storytelling in the language of today . . . It is hard to believe that Seth is only one man. He writes with the omniscience and authority of a large, orderly committee of experts on Indian politics, law, medicine, crowd psychology, urban and rural social customs, dress, cuisine, horticulture, funerary rites, cricket and even the technicalities of shoe manufacture

Lived the detail

Long beautiful historic funny book
I thought I would never finish and all of the sudden… FIN

Well read,interesting book on any levels absolutely worth reading

Delightfully well written piece,that gives a good overall view of Indian culture after British rule very interesting . This piece allows us to have a great in-depth look at life in India and what a small difference can make to many.

Absolutely splendid story, the perfume of India

One of the reviews of a Suitable Boy, which was published in 1993, was written by Trevor Fishlock of the Sunday Tribune. He said “You will not find the city of Brahmpur on a map of India.”
Now thanks to Google Maps it can be identified, worth looking at since it takes centre stage in this beautifully written novel.
The story revolves around 4 Families, all of whom are brought vividly to life by the narration of Sagar Arya.
The novel is a phenomenon and despite its length I regretted that it drew to an end.
Highly recommend this amazing book!