Review: Love Comes Later by Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar

Synopsis

When newlywed Abdulla loses his wife and unborn child in a car accident, the world seems to crumble beneath his feet. Thrust back into living in the family compound, he goes through the motions—work, eat, sleep, repeat. Blaming himself for their deaths, he decides to never marry again but knows that culturally, this is not an option. Three years later, he’s faced with an arranged marriage to his cousin Hind, whom he hasn’t seen in years. Hard-pressed to find a way out, he consents to a yearlong engagement and tries to find a way to end it. What he doesn’t count on, and is unaware of, is Hind’s own reluctance to marry.

Longing for independence, she insists on being allowed to complete a master’s degree in England, a condition Abdulla readily accepts. When she finds an unlikely friend in Indian-American Sangita, she starts down a path that will ultimately place her future in jeopardy.

Review

This book is a fascinating insight into Muslim life rarely seen outside of the family!

It was interesting to understand a little more about Muslim culture and how the young struggle with whats is culturally required of them and balancing that with contemporary society

The author helped to bring Qatar alive through the eyes of Abdulla and Hind and painted it as a beautiful rich landscape with deep cultural ties to the past not just the vast wealth that gets portrayed in mass media

The story starts with a bang it doesn't lull you in with a build up of the scenes and characters! It starts with Abdulla's first wife dying in a car accident and builds around his journey through grief with the added pressure from family to marry again.  The author weaves Hind's presence in the story neatly to allow the reader to seamlessly pick up her story like she was part of the book right from the start

The author tries to show how Western culture influences on a daily basis with mention of state of the art phones and summer shopping trips to Harrods which I don't think adds much to the tone of the story but I understand why she puts it in as it does create a depth and questions about the meshing of cultures

Hind gets the taste of freedom that she so desperately wanted and the author manages the internal conflict that creates with great skill.  It really kept me turning the pages throughout her stay in England! 

Overall I found it a great tale of turmoil and romance and the ending makes this story scream out for a sequel! 

Review by Nat

Disclosure: We received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.  All opinions are our own