What Will People Think: Jane Austen meets Bollywood in this warm and witty novel about community, family and love

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

'Gorgeous ... like being in Pride and Prejudice, if Jane Austen had lived in 70s Mumbai' HARRIET EVANS

'So much fun!' KATIE FFORDE

Ila has her pride. And she's about to discover just how much trouble that can be...

It's 1976 and in the Vile Parle suburb of Mumbai, bastion of the Maharashtrian middle-class, Ila Bendre's mother is determined to get her four daughters married off as soon as possible.

Ila has no intention of snaring a proposal from some dull specimen of Marathi manhood so she can pretend to care about cricket for the rest of her life. She wants a career and life of her own, and she'll do whatever it takes to escape married bliss, no matter what the neighbours might say.

But when Ila's Bollywood-obsessed younger sister, Latika, takes the matter of marriage into her own hands, it looks as if the Bendre family's reputation in this close-knit community will be ruined once and for all...

As we follow the Bendre sisters from dinners to parties to weddings, from Vile Parle to Pune, will love eventually conquer all in this ingeniously witty and charming tale of pride, prejudice and puran polis

'Fresh, funny ... vivid' Daily Mail
'Warm and clever' i

Readers adore What Will People Think
'An absolute blinder. The story is told with real heart.
'I actually just had a real riot with this. Super enjoyable'
'Delightful ... charming ... a gem of a book'
'I devoured it within a day'
I was grinning for the final couple of chapters'
'Funny through and through'
'Charming and witty'
'Easy, entertaining and quintessentially charming'

Reviews

I loved this book. The characters danced off the page in a way that mixed entertainment with truth. It was so much fun! -- Katie Fforde
Fresh, funny ... vivid ... a lively reinterpretation of a timeless classic * Daily Mail *
'I LOVE INDIA, and this book is like being there except in the 70s in a Jane Austen novel. What's not to love Rich, fun, textured, I adored it!' -- Harriet Evans, Sunday Times bestselling author
Insightful... Unforgettable characters and many twists make this novel hard to put down. * Sunday Express *
Warm and clever * i *
Perfect to curl up with on cold winter nights * Hello *
Very funny. I found the insights into the Marathi community and Hindu life fascinating -- Maggie Alderson * Sunday Telegraph (Australia) *

Author Bio

Vedashree Khambete-Sharma lives in Mumbai and works in advertising - over the course of her 18-year copywriting career, she has won both Indian and international awards for her work, including a Cannes Lion. What Will People Think is her fourth novel.