THE IMMIGRANT

The picture on the front cover of the paperback says it all. A woman in a bright red sari, ostentatious against the white snow; in the grey distance, a couple with an umbrella.

Manju Kapur’s latest novel, The Immigrant, is the story behind that contrast between East and West, the subtle and not-so-subtle differences — and the attempts of an Indian woman who has left her native Delhi to ‘fit in’ with life in Canada.

The book is also a portrait of an arranged marriage.

Nina is 30, living alone with her mother in Delhi; both women know that it is high time that Nina was married.

The bachelor is Ananda: he left India after his parents were killed in a car crash, going to Canada for a new life, to practise as a dentist.

He too needs to get married, for the sake of respectability. It is arranged for them to meet; the courtship is swift; the marriage convenient.

Manju Kapur paints a sympathetic portrait of the changes that Nina must make as an immigrant, the shocks to her system.

Being vegetarian is inconvenient in Canada; even her least showy saris draw attention where none is sought.

And Nina must get used to unexpected differences, such as everyone getting their own meals, not eating together apart from the evening meal.

There is no real storyline here. Rather, the book is a progression of observations, of Nina’s settling into herself – her new self.

It is an enlightening portrait of an arranged marriage, and a detailed exploration of the costs and concessions involved in adjusting to both marriage and immigration.

Manju Kapur will be at the Oxford Literary Festival on Friday at noon.