Mrs Ali’s much loved home is suddenly under threat – a road widening scheme threatens to destroy both it and the family business, the Marriage Bureau for Rich People. Meanwhile, Mrs Ali’s niece, Pari, a young Muslim widow, adopts a destitute Hindu boy, and this unorthodox arrangement offends both Muslim and Hindu in the sleepy eastern Indian town of Vizag. The Ali family are plunged into crisis, threated by police action, social boycott and excommunication. There is one plan that might just keep Pari and her son together, and the home Mr and Mrs Ali have shared for many years intact, but it’s a desperate gamble. Do they risk everything for a small chance of success? But can they afford not to?

Can true love triumph in the face of fierce family opposition? Mr Ali’s marriage bureau is flourishing but trouble isn’t far away once son Rehman begins secretly to woo TV journalist Usha in the small cafes and on the beautiful beaches of South Indian Vizag in an ill-advised romance.· · · Meanwhile the lovely Aruna has a problem or two all her own. She enjoys being Mr Ali’s right-hand woman at the marriage bureau, having a wonderful husband Ram, and living in a mansion a far cry from her parents’ cramped one-room house; but how long can Aruna remain happy once her spiteful sister-in-law Mani comes home to stay? When Usha’s father finds out about Rehman, a Muslim, the fat is in the fire. And what will Mr and Mrs Ali have to say when they discover too their son has been dating a non-Muslim?

What does somebody with a wealth of common sense do if retirement palls? Why, open a marriage bureau, of course. And soon Mr Ali, from beautiful Vizag in South India, sees his new business flourish as the indomitable Mrs Ali and able assistant Aruna look on with careful eyes. But although many clients go away happy, problems lurk behind the scenes as Aruna nurses a heart-rending secret; while Mr Ali cannot see that he rarely follows the sage advice he so freely dishes out to others. And when love comes calling for Aruna, an impossible dilemma looms... A colourful coastal town and contemporary marriage bureau prove a perfect backdrop for a splendid array of characters making sense of all sorts of pride and prejudice - and the ways in which true love won't quite let go - in this witty and big-hearted debut novel.

Not All Marriages are Made in Heaven: (The Wedding Wallah)Business at Mr Ali’s Marriage Bureau is as brisk as ever, but he and Mrs Ali are concerned about their son, Rehman. With Usha out of the picture, he’s given up his job and returned to political activism, defending local villagers from unscrupulous contract-farming companies. He and Pari are getting closer, but he still thinks of her only as a friend. Suddenly unexpected news comes in the form of a proposal to Pari from the mother of a young Mumbai-based lawyer called Dilawar. Mr and Mrs Ali think the match is a good one, and Rehman remembers Dilawar fondly from school. But Pari knows she is in love with Rehman, and soon it’s clear that other complications stand in the way of the match. And when Rehman, Aruna and Ramanujam’s paths all cross in one of the villages to the south of the city, a threat far greater than an unwanted marriage raises its head. Warm, witty and exciting, Not All Marriages Are Made In Heaven will be the third installment of the Marriage Bureau for Rich People series.