Book – A Dowryless Wedding
Author – Merlin Franco
Published by – Authors Upfront
Year Published – 2018
Page Count – 225
Suitable for – all age groups, every kind of readers

“Our wedding was fixed for 12th July, as dictated by an astrologer.”

So, this is what happens. I am reminded of a marriage which could not be fixed because of an astrologer and here, the date is fixed by an astrologer and these are common sights in India – irrespective of its length and breadth. A wedding has more contributions from the relatives, pundits, churches, temples or maulvis compared to what a guy and a girl contribute. Well, this might sound funny as well! But, this thing, A Dowryless Wedding, is funnier than what it seems in a helicopter shot or a bird’s eye view.

On one hand, Franklin, our beloved protagonist and a hero who is hurt more than usual villains in the novel, is a PhD and he thinks:

With a PhD degree in hand and my marriage just a few months away, I suddenly felt more responsible than I acted.

However, for an atheist like him, God had other plans. When stopped by a Church’s father and confronted, Franklin learns the ‘truth’:

“Having a PhD is not important. Living up to the expectations from the community is.”

And then, to get into the Church system entirely, there are some other expectations as well:

“One thousand as donation for building shopping complex in 2001. Three thousand for building the marriage hall in 2004 and ten thousand for the flag mast.”

So, do you see how much this dowryless wedding is going to cost?

The novel by Merlin Franco is as amusing as you might have expected it to be when you see the front page announcing that it is going to be sarcastic. The author is right and he delivers it. A Dowryless Wedding is a story of before marriage, during the marriage and after marriage. Franklin and Nisha are portrayed as a Christian couple. Franklin is a free spirit with communist ideas in his veins and Nisha is rather a simple girl who needs some time to get into the spirit of a woman even after their marriage. And so, it is but expected that they might have some problem and happens exactly the same.

Other than the clash of ideas, the novel takes a satiric pleasure in exposing the obscure acts which take place in our society and we, like meek pets, follow them as nothing. However, this novel certainly will offer you a respite because you can trust our man, Franklin! He will not let the readers on his side down!

You can get a copy of this amusing but pinching novel from Amazon India link below:

Get the novel – buy now – Amazon India

review by Manish for BooksToRead