The Marriage Clock
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| The Marriage Clock Zara Raheem |
If only life were like a romantic movie
Leila Abid has always imagined
that finding the man for her would be like a Bollywood movie. So far, her path
to a husband has been nothing like a movie.
Now that Leila is in her
mid-twenties, her parents are starting to get anxious about the fact their
daughter is unmarried. Her mother is particularly upset about this single
status. To solve the problem, Leila’s mother decides to help her find a husband
in the traditional way she grew up with in India: by arrangement.
For a while Leila lets her
parents set her up with men. When these dates all turn out badly, Leila asks
for time to find a husband on her own. Her parents give her three months.
Three months to find a husband
In those three months Leila tries
everything. She goes to speed dating. Her friends set her up. Leila even turns
to the internet. Nothing works.
Finally, Leila does connect with
a man, Zain, but he disappears. Upset over Zain’s disappearance, Leila agrees
to go to her perfect cousin’s wedding in India.
Leila has never met her cousin
Meena, but she has heard her whole life about how wonderful Meena is. Having
this wonderfulness shoved in her face all the time is why Leila hates her.
People are full of surprises
When Leila actually meets Meena,
though, she beings to change her tune. It turns out Meena has always admired
Leila. She’s envied Leila’s freedoms as well as her ability to decide and do
things for herself. For Meena, an arranged marriage is her freedom. It gives
her the opportunity to break away from her parents and create a new life.
Hearing this from Meena, Leila starts to see arranged marriages in a different
light.
While in India, Leila finds
herself falling for Hisham, the twin brother of Meena’s fiancé, Haroon. Leila
and Hisham have a great time together. Their time together is so enjoyable
Leila starts to think she should tell Hisham she has feelings for him. Then she
finds out the secret Hisham has been keeping. All progress Leila was starting
to believe she had made in finding a husband falls apart. Add in a fight with
her mother, and Leila returns home not very hopeful for the future at all.
Good friends are there for you no matter what
Throughout her quest to find a
husband, Leila relies on some very supportive friends. Even those who say she’s
too picky about men are there for her when she needs them. But there is only
one who truly understands what she is going through. That friend is Tania.
Tania was pushed into marriage at
a young age. The marriage ended in divorce which caused great damage to her
relationship with her parents. Now Tania is determined to make her own
decisions in life. This bad experience is also why Tania completely understands
why Leila wants to find a husband all on her own.
A hard path to the happy ending
I felt badly for Leila. Despite
her agreement with her parents, her mother kept breaking it by setting her up
with people. At one point Leila was even taken to a matchmaker. On top of this,
Leila’s mother loved to criticize her. She was in the wrong constantly about
everything. That is not easy to live with, always being told how wrong you are.
Fortunately, Leila’s father wasn’t as critical, but that doesn’t necessarily
make living with the criticism any easier.
This book does have a happy ending, just not in the traditional sense. I will not tell you what that ending is because that will ruin the book. You’re just going to have to read in order to find out.
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| A Heart Set Free Kate Dorsey |
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