Author:Tina Biswas
Set in England, India and Ireland, a comic tale of fish out of water.
When her boorish father dies, fat, unsophisticated Mousumi is sent from India to her cosmopolitan relations in London. For the glamour of the western world, she leaves behind both her forlorn mother and an amorous shopkeeper.
On arrival, she is met by the Majumdar family: Prakash - a doctor with too much heart, great cook and man-about-the-house; Tuhina - a successful investment banker and indulgent mother; and Darshini - a nonchalant eighteen-year-old, audacious coin-flipper and possessor of ethereal beauty. Such an offbeat household terrifies Mousumi - how will she fit in? Can she meet their high standards? And will she begin to question the life she has known?
A witty social comedy of cultural misunderstanding and people who simply don't get on.
A beautiful debut that mixes humour with biting social commentary.
—— Cosmopolitan MagazineBiswas proves a natural writer with a nice turn of phrase.
—— GuardianA comedy of manners ... charmingly told.
—— Financial TimesOne to watch.
—— Image Magazine, IrelandThis fast paced debut gives us the age-old dilemma of family struggle told in frank funny language by a new name to watch.
—— Nottingham Evening PostA gritty, sharp, social comedy. Like Monica Ali's Brick Lane, but funnier.
—— Elle MagazineA delightful first novel about a young Indian called Mousumi visiting her sophisticated relations in London ... A coming-of-age story with a difference.
—— Oxford TimesHugely gratifying in the way that only Cooper can be
—— Mail on SundayTriumphantly good
—— The Sunday TimesThe prospect of Jilly's return, with a novel set in the glamorous international art world and promising "oodles of bad behaviour, intrigue, passion, tears and laughter", will surely cheer all but the most misanthropic
—— BooksellerThere is enough plot for several novels here (enough sex for dozens), all vividly conveyed in the author's excitable style... Her many fans will not be disappointed
—— Literary ReviewThis modern day mythical fantasy is Anne Rice on an epic scale, a hugely imagined world. A chiller thriller from cold of Russia, this one's been selling like hot cakes around the world
—— Sunday Sport