Unmarriageable

Chapter 1



It is a truth universally acknowledged that a girl can go from pauper to princess or princess to pauper in the mere seconds it takes for her to accept a proposal.

 When Alysba Binat began working at age twenty as the English-­literature teacher at the British School of Dilipabad, she had thought it would be a temporary solution to the sudden turn of fortune that had seen Mr. Barkat Bark Binat and Mrs. Khushboo Pinkie Binat and their five daughters ­Jenazba, Alysba, Marizba, Qittyara, and Lady ­move from big-­city Lahore to backwater Dilipabad. But here she was, ten years later, thirty years old, and still in the job she d grown to love despite its challenges. Her new batch of ninth-­graders was starting Pride and Prejudice, and their first homework had been to rewrite the opening sentence of Jane Austen s novel, always a fun activity and a good way for her to get to know her students better.

After Alys took attendance, she opened a fresh box of multicolored chalks and invited the girls to share their sentences on the blackboard. The first to jump up was Rose-­Nama, a crusader for duty and decorum, and one of the more trying students. Rose-­Nama deliberately bypassed the colored chalks for a plain white one, and Alys braced herself for a reimagined sentence exulting a traditional life ­marriage, children, death. As soon as Rose-­Nama ended with mere seconds it takes for her to accept a proposal, the class erupted into cheers, for it was true: A ring did possess magical powers to transform into pauper or princess. Rose-­Nama gave a curtsy and, glancing defiantly at Alys, returned to her desk.

Good job, Alys said. Who wants to go next?

As hands shot up, she glanced affectionately at the girls at their wooden desks, their winter uniforms impeccably washed and pressed by dhobis and maids, their long braids (for good girls did not get a boyish cut like Alys s) draped over their books, and she wondered who they d end up becoming by the

Soniah Kamal s debut novel, An Isolated Incident, was a finalist for the Townsend Prize for Fiction and the Karachi Literature Festival Embassy of France Prize. Her TEDx Talk is about regrets and second chances. Kamal s award-winning work has appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Guardian, BuzzFeed, Catapult, and Literary Hub.

This inventive retelling of Pride and Prejudice charms. People

As with Austen, whose books could be read as fun and simple romances or acerbic examinations of class and women's choices (and lack thereof), Kamal's Unmarriageable succeeds in being both a deliciously readable romantic comedy and a commentary on class in post-colonial, post-partition Pakistan, where the effects of the British Empire still reverberate. . . . Both a fun, page-turning romp and a thought-provoking look at the class-obsessed strata of Pakistani society. NPR

Distinctly entertaining . . . Kamal uses her comedy of manners, infused with tender humor, to comment on the sorry state of affairs for too many young women from this part of the Indian subcontinent. . . . If Jane Austen lived in modern-day Pakistan, this is the version of Pride and Prejudice she might have written. Shelf Awareness (starred review)

Delightful . . . Unmarriageable introduces readers to a rich Muslim culture. It s Pakistan circa 2001, when women s rights were expanding but religious attitudes were becoming more strict. [Kamal] observes family dramas with a satiric eye and treats readers to sparkling descriptions of a days-long wedding ceremony, with its high-fashion pageantry and higher social stakes. Star Tribune

Thoroughly charming. New York Post

[A] funny, sometimes romantic, often thought-provoking glimpse into Pakistani culture, one which adroitly illustrates the double standards women face when navigating sex, love, and marriage. This is a must-read for devout Austenites. Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Unmarriageable is a joy to read! It transforms a familiar story into something new and fresh and different, but keeps all of the warmth and intelligence of the original. I loved everything about these characters and spending time in their world. Jasmine Guillory, author of The Wedding Date