I read this book for class, and it surprised me, in a negative way, because it just doesn't have the quality the books we study usually have. The storyline is trite, the characters unlikeable and stereotypical, and the humour sometimes simply flat and sometimes downright offensive. The ending is shoved into the last ten pages, in which more happens than in the first two hundred, and shows the protagonist from his worst side, reacting childishly and unthinkingly and unilaterally making decisions for the women in his life without asking them. There was some humour in Padhman's introduction into Alice's family gathering, and it would have been interesting to see them go to India together, but the book squanders this potential. The only good things about this book are the mouth-watering descriptions of the Indian food the characters wary but that is in no way enough to distract from the rest of this mess.