The Pleasure Seekers, By Tishani Doshi

A tryst, a romance, and a trot through post-colonial India

Tishani Doshi's charming debut novel was inspired by the romance between her Gujurati father and Welsh mother, who met in Britain in the 1960s before moving to India to be married.

She begins with a tight focus on the central relationship, imagining the pleasures and difficulties of the young lovers' early years together. But the narrative soon expands into an ambitious post-colonial saga after the fashion of Rohinton Mistry's Family Matters, as Doshi hops back and forth between cultures and generations.

The Pleasure Seekers lacks the darkness and complexity of Mistry's book, and Doshi has a habit of telegraphing plot developments. But this is nevertheless an enjoyable novel: tender, funny and moving.