A Suitable Boy is a novel by Vikram Seth, published in 1993. With 1,349 pages (1,488 pages in paperback), the English-language book is one of the longest novels published in a single volume.
A Suitable Boy is set in a newly post-independence, post-partition India. The novel follows four families during 18 months, and centres on Mrs. Rupa Mehra's efforts to arrange the marriage of her younger daughter, Lata, to a "suitable boy". Lata is a 19-year-old university student who refuses to be influenced by her domineering mother or opinionated brother, Arun. Her story revolves around the choice she is forced to make between her suitors Kabir, Haresh, and Amit.
It begins in the fictional town of Brahmpur, located along the Ganges. Patna, Brahmpur, along with Calcutta, Delhi, Lucknow and other Indian cities, forms a colourful backdrop for the emerging stories.
The novel alternately offers satirical and earnest examinations of national political issues in the period leading up to the first post-Independence national election of 1952, including Hindu–Muslim strife, the status of lower caste peoples such as the jatav, land reforms and the eclipse of the feudal princes and landlords, academic affairs, abolition of the Zamindari system, family relations and a range of further issues of importance to the characters.
The novel is divided into 19 parts, with each generally focusing on a different subplot. Each part is described in rhyming couplet form on the contents page.
Contents
Plot summary
In 1950, 19-year-old Lata Mehra attends the wedding of her older sister, Savita, to Pran Kapoor, a university lecturer. Lata's mother, Mrs. Rupa Mehra, says that it is time for Lata to be married as well, which Lata dismisses as she intends to concentrate on her studies in English literature. Nevertheless, Mrs. Rupa Mehra begins to put out feelers to her friends and family, for a suitable boy for Lata.
While preparing for exams at Brahmpur University, Lata is approached several times by a boy her own age named Kabir. The two begin meeting in secret, and after a short while Lata feels she is in love with him. Wanting to know more about him, Lata asks Malati, her best friend, to try and find out information about him. Shortly after, Malati telephones Lata and informs her that Kabir, whose last name is "Durrani", is Muslim. Lata is horrified, realizing her mother would never permit her, a Hindu, to marry a Muslim boy. Mrs Rupa Mehra learns of Lata's meetings with Kabir and confronts her, making plans to immediately bring Lata to Calcutta, where her older brother Arun lives. The next morning, Lata sneaks out to meet Kabir and desperately begs him to run away with her, but he refuses, saying that it would be foolish to do so. Feeling heartbroken, Lata agrees to go to Calcutta with her mother.
At the train station, Lata is spotted by Haresh Khanna, an ambitious shoe manufacturer who is involved in business with Kedarnath Tandon, the husband of Pran's older sister, Veena. He is intrigued by her beauty and sadness.
In Calcutta, Lata is surprised to find herself enjoying her time with her brother, and his wife Meenakshi. She meets Meenakshi's eccentric family, the Chatterjis, and bonds with Meenakshi's older brother, Amit, an England-educated poet who is under pressure from his family to marry. Though Amit initially only intends on being friendly to Lata as a member of his extended family, he begins to consider her as a possible wife. Mrs. Rupa Mehra is horrified when she realises that Amit and Lata might be considering marriage, as she dislikes Meenakshi and therefore disapproves of the Chatterjis. She goes to Delhi to renew her efforts to find a spouse for Lata. By accident she is introduced to Haresh Khanna and decides he is suitable for Lata. Despite the fact that he is in love with another woman (whom he cannot marry due to her family's objection), Haresh agrees to meet Lata. Lata finds the idea of marrying Haresh ridiculous but nevertheless has an agreeable time with him and gives him permission to write to her.
Characters in A Suitable Boy
Four family trees are provided in the beginning of the novel to help readers keep track of the complicated interwoven family networks:
The Mehras
Mrs. Rupa Mehra, a mother searching for a suitable boy for her youngest daughter
Raghubir Mehra, her deceased husband
Arun, Mrs. Mehra's oldest son (married to Meenakshi Chatterji)
Aparna, daughter of Arun and Meenakshi
Varun
Savita (married to Pran Kapoor)
Uma Kapoor, daughter of Savita and Pran
Lata, whose arranged marriage forms the basis of the main plot
The Kapoors
Mr. Mahesh Kapoor (state Minister of Revenue) and Mrs. Mahesh Kapoor
Veena (married to Kedarnath Tandon)
Bhaskar Tandon, son of Veena and Kedarnath
Pran (married to Savita Mehra)
Maan
The Khans
The Nawab Sahib of Baitar
Zainab, his daughter
Hassan and Abbas, her sons
Development
Seth has stated that the biggest influence on writing A Suitable Boy was the five-volume 18th century Chinese novel The Story of the Stone by Cao Xueqin.
Possible sequel
A sequel, to be called A Suitable Girl, was due for publication in 2017. As of April 2026 this was still unpublished. In an article that appeared in the Khaleej Times on 4 November 2019, Vikram Seth was quoted as saying that he had not yet devised an ending for the book.
Real people and events
For the character of Tapan, the youngest in Chatterjee family, Seth drew on his own experiences of being bullied at The Doon School in India.
The Praha Shoe Company of the novel is modeled on Bata Shoes.
Pul mela is based on the Kumbh Festival, which takes place at Sangam, Allahabad.
Critical reception
On 5 November 2019, the BBC included A Suitable Boy on its list of the 100 most inspiring novels.
The Independent wrote that "the movement and music of the writing in A Suitable Boy take time to absorb, but its unobtrusive, powerfully rational sweetness eventually compels the reader to its way of seeing."
Daniel Johnson wrote in The Times: "A Suitable Boy is not merely one of the longest novels in English: it may also prove to be the most fecund as well as the most prodigious work of the latter half of this century - perhaps even the book to restore the serious reading public's faith in the contemporary novel. I have little doubt that... Vikram Seth is already the best writer of his generation", while Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post compared Seth favourably to Tolstoy.
Christopher Hitchens, in Vanity Fair, gave the novel a glowing review, saying the prose "has a deceptive lightness and transparency to it".
The book was among the contenders in a 2014 list by The Daily Telegraph of the 10 all-time greatest Asian novels, and Emma Lee-Potter of The Independent listed it as one of the 12 best Indian novels.
Adaptation
A six-part series adapted from the novel and titled A Suitable Boy, directed by Mira Nair, written by Andrew Davies and starring Tabu, Ishaan Khatter, Tanya Maniktala and Rasika Dugal, was broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 26 July 2020. The production is the first BBC historical drama with a cast completely featuring people of colour, except for Austrian opera singer Thomas Weinhappel as 'Hans'. The series is streaming on Acorn TV in the US and Canada and Netflix in other territories.