In order to stave off his boredom (and avoid pestering his wife) after retirement, Mr. Ali decides to start a marriage bureau to help well-to-do families find suitable matches for their sons and daughters. As his list of clients grows, each asking for specific and occasionally peculiar characteristics of their spouse, Mr. Ali decides to hire Aruna as an assistant, a young women with a sorrowful past.

This book started out a bit slow for me. Zama has a somewhat sparse style, which at first felt a bit blunt in its directness, and the dialog sometimes feels a bit old fashioned, but his style grew on me as the story went along and as it resembled more and more a comedy of manners similar in style to Jane Austen.

Another aspect that slowed me down at first was the introduction of so many characters in a short amount of time, from Mr. and Mrs. Ali to their housekeeper to Aruna to the many new and interesting clients that come in the door. However, Zama manages to bring together the fluttering threads and weave them together in a sweet tale that touches upon various religions and the politics of the cast system, while also looking at marriage and love and where the two meet in a country of arranged marriages.

Zama shares the ins and outs of the culture, occasionally comparing Western views to Indian Islamic and Indian Hindi views of family and marriage. He presents intimate looks at two marriages, one Islamic and one Hindi, and incorporates cultural traditions naturally into the storyline. Though I can't be sure of his motives, its as though Zama wants to show how though these traditions are different, they can coexist without conflict, and like Mr. Ali, he doesn't judge anyone for their beliefs.

So, despite the slow beginning, by the final chapters I was enthralled and couldn't put it down. When I finally finished it, I did so with a smile and I am looking forward to see what stories Zama produces in the future.