I first read this book when I was in class 8, then in class 12, then in college and now when I am 24.
It meant different things to me at all ages.

A great book which if you have the patience to read, will show you what an Indian family is like .
Set in the times of post-partition India, it takes you through the life of Lata and how everything comes together to find a suitable boy for her.

Awaiting eagerly for Vikram Seth's A Suitable Girl.

Let not the size of the book let you down. The book is perhaps not supposed to be read over a fortnight. I just like many of the other readers read it over a expended period of 3 months - few pages at a time. It was always a joy to keep coming back to the book whenever I found time.
One would just wonder at the research put in by the author - one of the finest in English literature today. To weave such a rich story requires a in-depth study of diverse fields such as politics, fine arts and l...

Basically a story of a mother searching a suitable boy to marry her daughter.

Spun to this main story are a lot of social scenarios. The pathos of muslim women and the conserved life in the muslim society.

Then there is a whole act about the Zamindari Abolition Law. Don't be scared-it's not a lesson in law as it sounds!

Ghazals make rounds as life takes ups and downs with the characters.

By the time it's ending you would agree like me with the Observer's review about it:

"As with all the...

A masterpiece. Set in post-independence, post-partition India, the novel vividly follows the story of four intertwined families over a period of 18 months as a mother searches for a suitable boy to marry her daughter. It takes us into the richly imagined world of large extended multi cultured families and weaves an accurate and compulsively readable tale of their lives and loves. What joys of excellent storytelling....

The story is so engrossing, each character so completely developed and be...

This book was one of the best books I have read. I am a slow reader taking all the time to savour the moments in the story and this book gave me many. I lived the characters for more than 4 months. A good book makes you laugh and cry along with it and this is just that. I felt like an invisible extra character in the lives of the character. If only one is very patient they can have 1500 pages of bliss. Thoroughly enjoyed patiently and now impatiently waiting for the Suitable girl.

WOW! Just W.O.W! It’s a long book—1,500 pages. And every single page was worth the time I spent on it and more.

If Midnight’s Children is India’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, then A Suitable Boy must be its War and Peace. It’s got the same melding of personal lives seen in amidst great national events. Instead of the romance of Natasha and Pierre, it’s that of Lata and her three suitors. Instead of the war with France, we have the post-Independence and post-Partition politics of a nation ...

It give us glimpse of everything during post-independence time politics , Indian festivals , people and overall it is neatly knitted story with parts of everything in it ! You can relate characters to people around you and though you finish the book you find yourself comparing people to characters in the book..... Awesome on whole i feel very good after reading it and eagerly waiting for A suitable girl !!!!! :)

Vikram Seth is a master story teller... & this is certainly one of his master pieces.. simple details of small town India.. traditional India vying with some changing elements... and the uniqueness of Indian culture & family system... makes for a dream read for those who enjoy the finer nuances in their story-reading..

The book focused on many political issues after independence but what interested me was Lata and her mother Mrs.Rupa's story. how her mother chooses a groom for Lata and savitha Pran Maan and meenakshi and her siblings added spice to the story. wonderfully written. i would recommend one to read it.

This book might seem a little intimidating considering the 600 + pages, but the jewels inside, the master storytelling and the detailed and descriptive language will not disappoint, but leave you begging for more. An unforgettable experience awaits any reader willing to take the first step by opening the first page and not giving up on it until the end.