Review: Unmarriageable

Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.


“Just remember,” Alys said quietly, “there is more to life than getting married and having children.”

Set in Pakistan in 2000-01, Unmarriageable, was a fun, thoughtful retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Alys is our Elizabeth Bennet, the Binat family name is old and respected but when Alys' father is swindled by his brother, they fall to genteel poverty. Alys and her older sister Jena become teachers to help the family out and when readers enter the story, Alys is teaching Pride and Prejudice to her 9th grade all girls class. This led to a great beginning where the author was able to show the similarities between English Pride and Prejudice culture and the current Pakistani culture Alys and her sisters were experiencing.

“You can afford to be undiplomatic,”Alys said. “People let people like you get away with anything.”
“You know what your glaring fault is?” Darsee said.
Alys glared at him. “Do tell.”
“You take great pride in hearing only what you want to hear, and then you're smug about your interpretation.”

All the hallmarks of Pride and Prejudice is known and enjoyed for are reworked into this book, Alys overhearing Valentine Darsee speak ill of her sets off the contentious but can't quite leave each other alone sparking relationship reader's will enjoy. Alys and Darsee have meaningful engagements that don't waste their time on the page as they travail through interacting and learning about each other.

“O'Connor, Austen, Alcott, Wharton. Characters' emotions and situations are universally applicable across cultures, whether you're wearing an empire dress, shalwar kurta, or kimono.”

This follows very closely to the outline of its inspiration, the Binat (Bennet) sisters and mother just about steal the show with their family antics and relationship. Wickaam makes his dastardly appearance and Alys' bestfriend Sherry (Charlotte) has a strong showing, I thought this author gave the character an even stronger performance and reworked her into someone who will have the reader more empathetic and understanding towards. There were also some references and Easter eggs of Austen's other works that were delightful to find.

“[...] Never in my life had I thought anyone would refuse to marry me. Never had I imagined that what I was bringing to the table would not outweigh my flaws. Time had turned me into that person, but that is not who I want to be. Sometimes we lose sight of ourselves, but you see me, Alys, and you force me to see myself.”

I thought the first half flowed a bit better than the second, until more towards the ending; there were some time gaps and more Binat family than Darsee and Alys. What the star of the novel was though, how people no matter their religion or culture just want to live, love, be happy, and get our mothers off our backs. This was also great for individuals to have some introduction to Pakistani culture and recommend some books that might have missed more Western focused readers. Alys thinks in the book: It was a truth universally acknowledged, Alys suddenly thought with a smile, that people enter our lives in order to recommend reads. Let me recommend this one to you all.

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