Things like art and music transcend culture and language
differences. Apparently so does the angst of being single
and many of the dating rituals endured by
as-yet-to-be-married-but-hopeful women.
In ALMOST SINGLE, Aisha Bathia desires a husband. As it is,
she is well past twenty-five (all of 29) and on her way to
being one of India's oldest living brides, should she ever
find Mr. Right and become betrothed. In the interim, she
tries hard to be a good friend to Misha, her less than moral
best friend; Anushka, her soon-to-be-divorced friend; and
Ric and Nic, her gay male friends who offer great advice on
everything from clothing and beauty tips to how to present
herself in a way that will end her single status.
If only she had just her friends to deal with, Aisha's life
might be solitary but certainly not unhappy. But, then
there's her demanding boss, her matchmaking mother, and her
annoying cousin.
All of this adds up to a delicious tale about mating in
India. Even with the cultural tradition of arranged
marriages, it seems there is still a lot in common with the
American mating dance, especially for an independent, guest
relations manager at a five-star hotel. There are still the
requisite humiliations and worries about being too fat, too
old, or not having just the right outfit to impress, not to
mention the competition with other single women. Aisha is a
highly competent businesswoman with a great sense of humor
and a penchant for finding herself in all the wrong
situations when the right ones are just beneath her nose.
Occasional insertions of what I presume to be Hindu—without
translation—sometimes make it difficult to know exactly what
is being said, taking away from the enjoyment, but only a
tiny bit. Overall, ALMOST SINGLE is a really fun read.
In a city where old is meeting new, daughters are
surprising mothers, and love is breaking all the rules,
this heartfelt and wickedly funny cross-cultural debut
novel introduces a smart, irreverent young woman searching
for independence and matrimony in a culture bound by
tradition.
Between elegant soirees and the
occasional mortifying mishap, Aisha Bhatia’s job as guest
relations manager at New Delhi’s five-star Grand Orchid
Hotel is intermittently fabulous—she certainly knows her
wines and cheeses. But despite a life filled with good
friends and first-class travel accommodations, the fact is
that not many twenty-nine-year-old women in India are
single—as Aisha’s mother never fails to remind her.
Somewhere a clock is ticking, though as far as Aisha is
concerned, it can be cheerfully drowned out by laughter
over a champagne brunch. Yet when the handsomely chiseled
Karan Verma arrives from New York, Aisha experiences an
unexpected attitude adjustment. Karan is everything she’s
ever wanted…that is, if she actually knew what she
wanted. Is it possible that she’s about to find out?
Savvy, sexy, and unforgettable, Almost
Singletackles the loving, exasperating tug-of-
war between mothers and daughters, traditional customs and
contemporary romance—and what happens when a modern Indian
woman is caught in the middle.
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