The Pleasure Seekers

Not all that much pleasure is sought (or found) by the characters of Doshi's competently written if thinly conceived debut. The story starts off in 1968 as Babo Patel leaves his Madras home to study in London, and though our hero is quick to give up the strict rules of his Jain upbringing, he's soon summoned home once his parents find out he's been seeing Siân, a Welsh girl. After Babo gives his folks the silent treatment for a few months, the Patels comes to an agreement: if Babo and Siân are still together after two years of living with his family in Madras, they can return to London. Siân arrives in India, learns to take on the role of a traditional homemaker, joins the Overseas Women's Club, and has babies. Years later, Babo's youngest daughter takes off for an English adventure of her own. Ominous dreams and a catalogue of cursory mentions of historical events and pop culture references try to give this story some direction, but the narrative doesn't do much more than mark the passage of time. Doshi can write a nice sentence, but the bigger picture is too slight. (Sept.)