From Publishers Weekly
This rollicking debut from former London ad exec Farooki weaves an audacious network of lies as elaborate and brazen as the golden embroidery on [a] scarlet wedding sari. Henna, an illiterate 13-year-old Calcutta shopkeeper's daughter, is passed off as the educated 17-year-old daughter of a successful businessman in order to marry her into one of the city's best families. The lie reverberates deliciously through three generations of Henna's family: Farooki's witty narrative winds its way over some 50 years, moving Henna, husband Rashid (Ricky) and daughter Shona from Calcutta to Bangladesh, Pakistan and London, where Shona elopes and raises her twin boys above a confectioner's shop. Unflinching insights into Henna and others are well done, and allusions to literature and philosophy buoy them up. Farooki pulls off a lightly spun epic tale with effortless charm and more than enough delightful twists to keep pages turning. Even the characters' most unexpected and disastrous choices seem somehow inevitable, and one is quickly resigned to rooting for the wily woman at the center.
(Nov.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* This sparkling, fresh debut follows three generations of a family caught up in the web of their own deceit. When scholarly Rashid weds beautiful Henna, he is surprised on their wedding night to learn she's not an accomplished 17-year-old but rather a lazy, illiterate 14-year-old who opted for marriage over education. He waits several years to consummate the union, then Henna gives birth to Shona, who quickly learns her parents' language of deception. Shona elopes with handsome Parvez and moves to London. At the same time, Rashid finds himself traveling to the same city on business, and when he meets Verity, a shy English woman in her late thirties, he sees a chance for the happiness that he's never found with Henna—even if it means weaving an intricate tangle of lies. Rashid, Henna, and Shona continue to deceive each other and their families for the next two decades, until Shona faces a midlife crisis that makes her question whether deceit really is the best policy. Farooki's vibrant characters leap off the page and straight into the imagination in this clever and intricate novel. Huntley, Kristine
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