A Suitable Boy is set in post-independence, post-partition India. The novel follows the story of four
families over a period of 18 months as a mother searches for a suitable boy to marry her daughter.

The 1349-page novel alternatively offers satirical and earnest examinations of national political issues
in the period leading up to the first post-Independence national election of 1952, including inter-sectarian
animosity, the status of lower caste peoples such as the jatav, land reform and the eclipse of the feudal
princes and landlords, academic affairs, inter- and intra-family relations and a range of further issues of
importance to the characters.

A suitable boy centres on Mrs. Rupa Mehra's efforts to arrange the marriage of her younger daughter, Lata,
with a "suitable boy". At the heart of the novel it is a love story, set in a young, newly independent India.
The fictional town, Brahmpur, along with Calcutta, Delhi, Kanpur and other Indian cities, forms a colourful
backdrop for the emerging stories.

Lata is a 19-year-old college girl, vulnerable, yet determined to have her own way and not be influenced by
her strong mother and opinionated brother, Arun. Her story revolves around the choice she is forced to make
between her suitors, Kabir, Haresh, and Amit.

The novel is not simply based on one story. This epic novel covers the various issues faced by post-independence
India, including Hindu-Muslim strife, abolition of the Zamindari system, land reforms and empowerment of Muslim
women.

The novel is divided into 19 parts, with each part focussing on a different story (and eventually coming back
round again). For example part 1 is about Lata's story; part 2 is about a courtesan (the beginning of a major
subplot featuring Maan Kapoor); part 3 is about Lata again; part 4 is about Haresh; part 5 is about the Brahmpur
political scene etc. Each part is described by a rhyming couplet on the contents page

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