The matchmaker by Saman Shad

I loved this book, but I may have been more easily drawn into it, having recently attended some Pakistani weddings and been given a little insight into Desi culture. Saman Shad’s descriptions are so on key, they had me laughing many times. This is an absolutely brilliant multicultural rom-com. Once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down until I finished it.

Saima and Kal are both ‘third culture’ Australians, forging different values from their migrant parents, but still not feeling like they truly belong in the Australian culture in which they’ve grown up. Saima is a matchmaker by profession, but unlike the traditional version, she is in her thirties, single, and preferring to match people not by their status and wealth but by how they get along together. She wants to find each person’s soulmate. Kal, a Dev Patel look-alike, is a highly eligible bachelor whose parents scheme with Saima to find him a good young Pakistani girl. Of course, the plot is predictable: against parental expectations, the slightly disreputable matchmaker and the career driven bachelor start to fall for each other, despite having arguments every time they meet. It’s all good fun; the usual enemies to lovers trope, with cultural misadventures thrown in.

There is a serious element however: both Saima and Kal have personal issues to deal with, and it is good to see such a wonderful portrayal of the value of friendships. They each have friends that stand by them and give good advice. Saima’s friends are always there for her, full of jokes but also prepared to give honest feedback when it’s needed. Particularly notable is the depiction of the kind of caring support that Kal’s friends Tom and Lachie provide: his mates repeatedly check in on his depressive state, and are available for support.

All of this is delivered in a novel that sparkles with warmth and humour. It is wonderful to see such an uplifting and colourful depiction of multicultural Australia, at the same time providing insight into the dilemmas that ‘third culture’ Australians face. For those who enjoy this book, another book with humorous treatment of South Asian – Australian cultural conflict is Elephants with headlights by Bem Le Hunte (2020).

Themes: Diversity, Pakistani community, Romance, Matchmaking, Friendships, Depression, Anxiety.

Helen Eddy