"A nicely balanced account of marital breakdown in peculiarly
difficult circumstances" from the bestselling author of The Best Exotic
Marigold Hotel (The Sunday Times).
As flirtatious as she is rebellious, Marianne has always wanted out of
her hometown of Ashford. And at eighteen, she's found the perfect man to
take her away. Pakistani Salim Siddiqi is ridiculously handsome and
stunningly smart. While Marianne waltzes through town in suede
miniskirts and knee-high boots (it is the sixties after all), Salim
reads Wordsworth and Keats.
After their wedding, the honeymoon seems to last forever. But having two
children and buying a house reveal differences that become impossible to
ignore. Marianne refuses to just stay at home, taking a job at her
friend's catering company, while Salim becomes increasingly jealous and
possessive of her time. And when Marianne turns to another man, her life
explodes around her.
Salim bolts, taking their daughter and son with him back to Pakistan.
Legally, there's little Marianne can do. For years, she desperately
fights to regain custody. Adjusting to her new normal isn't an option as
long as her children are caught between two warring parents, two
cultures, and two continents . . .
"Captures brilliantly the basic incompatibilities and misunderstandings
that arise when two people have little knowledge of each other's culture
. . . both funny and moving." --Sunday Express
"A likeable protagonist . . . The themes are those of an ambitious,
dynamic novel . . . Absorbing . . . dramatic and disturbing." --The
Guardian
