The Marriage Clock

DEBUT Raheem’s first novel features Indian American Muslim Leila Abid, age 26 and living with her parents. She’s launched a teaching career, but her parents want her to complete her life with a spouse. Leila has always dreamed of a Bollywood-style romance and love before marriage, not after. She quickly decides that she cannot accept her parents completely arranging her marriage and gets them to agree to a three-month deadline before they step in and take the more traditional route for her. Leila sets off on a dating spree to find Mr. Right, using a variety of traditional and nontraditional methods including online dating apps for Muslim singles and even a matchmaker. The author portrays this experience in an authentic and at times funny and heartbreaking way, and Leila’s struggles will speak to many. The ending may surprise some readers and make others applaud.