The Marriage Clock – Zara Raheem
Romance, marriage, dates, arranged marriages, suitors, fiction.
Rating 10/10
Leila wants the full Bollywood movie romance rather than having to go through an arranged marriage. When her parents demand that she gets married soon, she tells them to give her time. Leila is given until their thirtieth anniversary to find a proper suitor, which only gives her three months’ time. Her friends help her with finding dates in all sorts of ways. Her mother set her up with a matchmaker. Leila even tried dating websites and speed dating. She even tries to go on more second and third dates to give some prospects a chance. She finds one prospect but later finds out he ghosted her. When her cousin invites her to the wedding, her and her mom go to the wedding. During this time, Leila learns more about herself and what she truly wants. Then her friend calls her up about said prospect that wants to connect. Leila has to decide whether or not she should hold onto cultural expectations or let go of them.
I enjoyed reading this novel a lot. I thought this was really insightful into a culture that considers marriage as a huge part of their life. Marriage traditions are always interesting to learn about especially other cultures and their marriage traditions. Especially in the modern era of dating scene versus traditional Indian marriages that are typically arranged with the parents of the persons they want to have a marriage with. The parents always want what is best for their child and do whatever research is needed to see that their child is being taken care of. I saw that age was a huge factor that typically Indians get married at a younger age and if someone was over the age bar to get married, there was scrutiny and criticism around that person. These are all traditional ideas that exist in the modern age with improvements with the aid of technology. I loved how the protagonist explores her own beliefs as well as her parents to try to decide what she truly wants for herself. In the end she does make a decision, not going to spill because that would be spoiling the ending. I ended up reading this novel within a days’ time. This novel is a one sitting read.
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