The Pleasure Seekers

Tishani Doshi

Sep 2010 · A&C Black

About this ebook

August, 1968: Babo Patel arrives in London from Madras, with curly
hair, jhill mill teeth and dreams of becoming a success. When he meets
the beautiful, auburn-haired Siân Jones, he falls in love instantly.
She, like him, is in search of something bigger than what the home she
left behind can offer.

But when Babo's parents learn of his intention to marry 'some girl
from God knows where' he is given an ultimatum: he can only marry Siân
if they agree to live in Madras for two years before returning to
London. As the years pass by, the calamities, quirks and heartaches of
first love, lost innocence, and old age unfold across cultures and
generations of this mixed-up family in a topsy-turvy world.

Ratings and reviews

The core beauty of the writing is Ms Doshi's ability to make me as a reader become a part of the Patel family picturized so aptly in this book... Her ability to make me feel one with the happiness, sorrow, betrayal, helplessness, indignation, jealousy, satisfaction, victory etc portrayed in the book. And yes, apart from Onomatopoeia the other thing consistent in the entire book was a varied display of myriad emotions a human can go through and the seamless way of intertwining historical real life events with the fictional life events of the book. Ba, a mere human with metahuman thinking & understand ability and Anjar, a scenic village with way ahead of its time societal norms is the absolute take away from this book. I'm glad this book found its way to me through the Book Exchange game I'd once participated in on Facebook. Thank you Junogal, for introducing me to the book and Ms Tishani Doshi for making my time with your book worthwhile through your poetic story weaving skills.

About the author

Tishani Doshi is a poet and dancer based in Madras, India. Her first collection of poetry, Countries of the Body, won the Forward Poetry Prize for best first collection in 2006. The Pleasure Seekers is her first novel.