Pub: Victor Gollancz
“Told with a detached and ironic humour, this remarkable novel captures the authentic feel of modern India – its extremes, its mysticism, its pathos and its beauty.” Bookcrosser (see http://www.bookcrossing.com)
“Captures the charm, corruption and violence of India”Irish Times
“Rich, dramatic, really funny…establishes Sara Banerji as a serious novelist” Good Housekeeping
The Mandel family is rich, powerful and superstitious. Twenty years ago things were very different when they arrived in Calcutta, starving and penniless, intent on making their fortune. Now, Papa Mandel, ruthless architect of the Mandel success story, is dead but his spirit lives on in his unwitting daughter, Jayanthi.
Jayanti is an avid reader of romantic magazines, and the plans for her marriage – a marriage of convenience which will further extend the Mandel influence – seem depressingly loveless to her; the more so as the wedding day approaches and incerasingly bloody events surround the Mandel clan as they jostle for power…
The Wedding of Jayanthi Mandel is an original and powerful work. The authentic feel of India is caught – its extremes, its mysticism, its beauty, the voices of its people. And underlying the drama is a detached and ironic humour which both illuminates and enriches this remarkable novel.
Sara Banerji 