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It is a truth universally acknowledged that when a family´s fortune is destroyed by scandal and rumour, they must look to their daughters to marry well. Alys Binat, however, loves life as it is: teaching English literature and encouraging her female students to aspire to more than society expects of them. She is resolute: she will not marry. However, her mother thinks differently and when the family receive an invite to a big wedding, Mrs Binat immediately coaches her daughters to snag rich, eligible bachelors. There, Alys´s eldest sister, Jena, catches the eye of Fahad ´Bungles´ Bingla, a successful entrepreneur, but Alys is irked when she overhears Bungles´ friend Valentine Darsee´s snobbish assessment of her. As the festivities unfold, the Binats hold their breath, waiting to see if Bungles will propose. And Alys realises that Darsee´s apparent rudeness and contempt may conceal a different man from the one she first judged him to be. An essential guide to marriage, class and sisterhood in modern-day Pakistan.

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