The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: A Novel

by Deborah Moggach

Now a major motion picture starring Jude Dench, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Tom Wilkinson, and Maggie Smith.
 
When Ravi Kapoor, an overworked London doctor, reaches the breaking point with his difficult father-in-law, he asks his wife: “Can’t we just send him away somewhere? Somewhere far, far away.” His prayer is seemingly answered when Ravi’s entrepreneurial cousin sets up a retirement home in India, hoping to re-create in Bangalore an elegant lost corner of England. Several retirees are enticed by the promise of indulgent living at a bargain price, but upon arriving, they are dismayed to find that restoration of the once sophisiticated hotel has stalled, and that such amenities as water and electricity are . . . infrequent. But what their new life lacks in luxury, they come to find, it’s plentiful in adventure, stunning beauty, and unexpected love.

• ISBN10: 0812982428
• ISBN13: 9780812982428
• Publish Date: 13 March 2012 (first published 1 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Random House Inc
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780812982428

Reviews

[clairelm]

I read this having watched the film when it came out last year. I love the film and was hoping that the book would live up to my expectations.
Unfortunately, it didn't. I tried to enjoy it, I really did, but I just couldn't really.
The beginning section of the book felt drawn out and waffling in places which made the book really difficult to get into. It seemed to take forever to get going and to pick up any pace at all.
I found the characters two dimensional and a bit insipid. They didn't interest me enough to make me fall in love with them and certainly showed none of the life that the film versions had.
The final thing that put me off was the vulgarity of some of the characters and the descriptions of things they did. It seemed far too much a focus of the book rather than the pleasant episodes which were almost rushed past.
Technically, the book was a good read, it is well edited and put together. Unfortunately, the story let it down.
Maybe I just had the bar set too high having seen the film first but I have to admit, if I'd read the book first, I wouldn't have bothered to see the film.