In Zara Raheem's The Marriage Clock (#848) Leila Abid's parents want her to be happy. For them, this of course means marriage to a suitable South Asian Muslim. But Leila has been raised in Los Angeles with American values, and she's not at all sure she wants to be married. She's happy teaching English literature to her teenage students and feeling she's making a difference in some of their lives. Besides, she's never yet gone on a date she liked enough to pursue a relationship.
As her parents' thirtieth anniversary approaches, Leila's ammi ramps up the pressure to meet a suitable mate to an unbearable degree, even going so far as to ambush her with friends' sons, and to take her to a professional matchmaker! Finally, Leila is driven to offer a compromise; if they will let her find a possible husband on her own in the three months left before their anniversary, everyone will be happy. If she cannot, she will allow her parents (meaning her mother!) to choose her a husband. The marriage clock is ticking...
I have to admit, I found Leila's character to be way too whiny for my taste. If she was so set on choosing her own husband material, she certainly didn't seem to be making much of an effort to find one on her own despite numerous suggestions from her circle of friends. I almost gave up on this book halfway through, and all I was looking for was something light and amusing to get me through a storm; since I was trapped inside, I did go ahead and finish the book, and I was pleasantly surprised when the ending redeemed the story and finally Leila found the gumption to be true to herself.
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