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The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

by Deborah Moggach (Goodreads Author)

3.35 of 5 stars 3.35 · rating details · 3,323 ratings · 759 reviews

Now a major motion picture starring Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Tom Wilkinson, Judi Dench, Penelope Wilton and Celia Imrie.

When Ravi Kapoor, an over-worked London doctor, is driven beyond endurance by his obnoxious father-in-law, he asks his wife: 'Can't we just send him away somewhere? Somewhere far, far away.' His prayer seems to have been answered when his ent...more

Paperback, 336 pages

Published March 20th 2012 by Random House (first published January 1st 2004)

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Jul 04, 2012 Cass rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, books-i-own-ebook, out-of-my-comfort-zone

A nice enough little story about about some elderly English living out their senility in India.

Gosh, even that sentence bores me. I don't want to be overly negative, it was an okay book. It was a fast read which helped, any longer/slower and I would have abandoned it.

The first three-quarters of the book were setting the scene for a plot that lasted barely a dozen pages. The characters were lovely, lots of unexplained behaviors. Was this book written with a movie in mind?

I wouldn't read it agai...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Angie Palau rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This was a quick and engaging read, in a captivating setting, but it really seemed like it contained far too many missed opportunities to Say Something. I have a sneaking suspicion I'll like the movie better than the novel, which almost never happens.

The book includes a number of closely intertwined story lines about a number of Britishers seeking to spend their final days in a relatively shoddy retirement home in Bangalore, India. There are also some stories revolving around family members and...more This was a quick and engaging read, in a captivating setting, but it really seemed like it contained far too many missed opportunities to Say Something. I have a sneaking suspicion I'll like the movie better than the novel, which almost never happens.

The book includes a number of closely intertwined story lines about a number of Britishers seeking to spend their final days in a relatively shoddy retirement home in Bangalore, India. There are also some stories revolving around family members and hotel employees, all with messed up lives and dysfunctional relationships. A lucky few of these characters wind their way through the book and end up someplace better, with a possibility of a happily ever after (if only for a couple of years) or a potential to salvage a relationship or lifestyle. But some of the characters have a story line that roughly translates to "life sucks, and then you die." And I wasn't sure what the point was of spinning that tale, except maybe that it was intended to make the book realistic. Not everyone gets a happy ending, after all.

But still, I had to wonder why the author bothered with some of the characters at all. I really liked Dorothy, the clever, retired woman from BBC who had grown up in Bangalore in some of the self-same places where the modern story takes place. But she's rather tragic throughout, and then she connects with her childhood, and then she dies. Huh? (It appears that this character doesn't even make it into the movie, which is probably a wise editing choice).

And Norman? Annoying comic relief, perhaps, but never made happy nor redeemed in his story. Just killed off in a fairly cruel way, really.

So... I had pretty strong mixed reactions to this book. Although I found the characters well-drawn, and I really loved the setting and the premise (and I don't think I had any misconceptions about the subject matter when I embarked: getting old is tough, and moving to a retirement home to end one's days isn't entirely light-hearted, after all), I felt like the story lines were too dangly - and in the end, for some, a little pointless. The book felt a bit like an exercise of getting from Point A to Point A-and-a-half. And I tend to expect a good deal more than that from my books.(less)

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Jan 05, 2013 Bettie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: tbr-busting-2013, winter-20122013, film-only, those-autumn-years

Judi Dench ... Evelyn Greenslade
Tom Wilkinson ... Graham Dashwood
Patrick Pearson ... Graham's Colleague
Hugh Dickson ... Judge
James Rawlings ... Estate Agent
Bill Nighy ... Douglas Ainslie
Penelope Wilton ... Jean Ainslie
Maggie Smith ... Muriel Donnelly
Liza Tarbuck* ... Staff Nurse
Paul Bhattacharjee ... Dr. Ghujarapartidar

* Is that Jimmy Tarbuck's daughter??

Jaipur

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Nov 07, 2012 Almeta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: flick-lit, grsauthorization, reviewed

If you read this expecting it to be like the movie, you will find that it is not.

Although I enjoyed the film, it was not this book. Actually I prefer to think that I read These Foolish Things and watched The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel!

The names were not changed but the dynamics of the characters were all flopped around. I thought Norman, although disgusting, was an important focal point in the book. (view spoiler)...more

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Mar 22, 2013 Mandy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Frustrated with his obnoxious father-in-law inhabiting his London home, Indian-born doctor Ravi Kapoor and his cousin Sonny come up with an idea to create a hotel for English “pensioners” to live out their lives in the exotic land of India. After negotiating with local contacts in Banagalore, the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is open for business and welcomes its many new residents. Among them are Evelyn Greenslade, a lonely widow with difficult relationships with her children; Muriel Donnelly, the...more

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Nov 20, 2009 marissa rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: clueless people interested in an exoticized India through the eyes of white racists

This book caused me actual, literal pain.

The jacket describes it as the story of Dr. Ravi Kapoor, a Brit whose desire to oust his lecherous, disgusting father-in-law from his home leads to his concocting the idea of setting up a retirement home for expats in India. A "brilliant comedy of manners" is supposed to ensue.

Well, it never comes. Dr. Kapoor appears only to bookend the story. The rest of it follows the lives of a bunch of racist old white people, doggedly thinking their dreadful racist t...more This book caused me actual, literal pain.

The jacket describes it as the story of Dr. Ravi Kapoor, a Brit whose desire to oust his lecherous, disgusting father-in-law from his home leads to his concocting the idea of setting up a retirement home for expats in India. A "brilliant comedy of manners" is supposed to ensue.

Well, it never comes. Dr. Kapoor appears only to bookend the story. The rest of it follows the lives of a bunch of racist old white people, doggedly thinking their dreadful racist thoughts without a smear of understanding or empathy. The worst of them sexually assaults an Indian girl because his head is full of ideas about the tantric wantonness of Indian women (backed up by what Moggach banally refers to as the "Karma Sutra", multiple times); the supposedly best of them thinks fondly that this same Indian girl's hair reminds her of her dog's shiny black coat. That sums up the functions of Indian characters in this book. They are either exotic sex objects or humble pets, unwitting and unwilling objects of desire or model minorities who submit to the white Britishers' prejudices and whims.

No aspect of India escapes Moggach's derisive, Othering, patronizing pen: she insistently refers to hijra as "eunuchs" (which they are not); Indians are constantly, explicitly fetishized (with lingering, uncomfortable descriptions of the brownness of their intimate skin); there is a running list of Indian products that are inferior to Western ones (plastic, sticky notes, plaster bandages). Moggach references Black people in two ways — thugs who attack one of the old women, and multiple uses of the word "nigger" — and includes many casually scornful references to Jewish and gay people and of course uses "Muslim" as synonymous with "terrorist".

This is supposed to be a fun, frothy read. I hunted down reviews when I was done and found that they all lauded Moggach for writing something so witty and insightful and touching. I find it hard to see any wit or insight or compassion in a book that refers to my Hindu god Ganesh as "the sort of thing you won at a fairground and then wished you didn't have to take home."

Just typing that out made me feel sick again.

And yes, I know that people who enjoyed this book would probably say, "Oh, but you're supposed to think the old people are racist! That's why the book is a black comedy, because it shows people with all their flaws!" To that I say, twaddle. If your characters — your sympathetic characters, the ones that readers are supposed to relate to and feel affection for — are raging and unrepentant bigots who are exactly as racist at the end of the book as they were at the beginning, you are not writing a comedy of manners. You are not writing an acute observation of humanity (unless to you, "humanity" refers only to white people, which I suspect it does). You are writing a hurtful piece of trash that promotes wretched and insidious stereotypes, and you are too immersed in your own ignorant privilege to even see it.

This is quite possibly the worst book I have ever read. I have never before encountered something so blithely, smugly cruel that didn't actually identify itself as hate literature up front.(less)

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Jun 05, 2012 Helen Stanton rated it 3 of 5 stars

A bit of light relief after Life and Fate.........

A light, entertaining read....with some very amusing observations, particularly if you are a woman of ' un certain age', which unfortunately I am...... 3.5 stars more accurate.

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May 28, 2013 Shawn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, international, travel-books

I listened to the audio version of the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It was narrated by the actress Juliet Mills. Juliet's slightly raspy voice lent itself well to the story. She also did a wonderful job with the narration and was able to really capture the Indian, British and American accents without making them seem overly theoretical. Her reading really added to my enjoyment of this story.

The book was enjoyable and an easy "read". I would recommend it but only gave it 3 stars because I only giv...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Julia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have not seen the film which was made from this book and which prompted the title change from the original (and boringly generic) These Foolish Things. However I very much enjoyed this gently charming story which is in parts very sad and in other parts quite hilarious.

The story is about a very anglicised Indian doctor working in the UK who is being driven mad by his boorish father-in-law. He hatches a plan with his Indian-based cousin to establish a rest home for the elderly English in Bangalo...more

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Mar 04, 2013 Lee Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After seeing the film, Deborah Moggach's The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was not quite the light-hearted read I expected. It could just be where I am in my own life (mid-30s, single, worried about the future), or maybe it is actually one of Moggach's themes that became more apparent as I read the book.

Regardless, I enjoyed this read as much as I enjoyed the movie. It's probably not obvious, but I really liked both (hence, the four Goodreads stars). Although, come to think of it, I am annoyed tha...more

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Feb 21, 2013 Kristin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

A light and entertaining book about elderly pensioners in England being uprooted to a new retirement home/"hotel" in India. Moggach is witty and writes with excellent character voice. There are several stories being told at the same time and in a serendipitous way which is endearing but slightly confusing at times since some name drops aren't clearly explained as to whether they belong to both stories or just coincidentally have the same name.

Some of the characters are offensive and most are ra...more

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Feb 16, 2013 Jacquelynn Luben rated it 3 of 5 stars

Having seen the film a little while ago, I found that the book (originally entitled These Foolish Things) that it's based upon film is somewhat different from the film, except that a group of elderly people decide to go to live in a retirement home in Bangalore, South India.

In the film, the main characters are played by very well-known actors and this helps to differentiate between them. With the book, I had to make notes when I was being introduced to this multitude of characters, so that when...more Having seen the film a little while ago, I found that the book (originally entitled These Foolish Things) that it's based upon film is somewhat different from the film, except that a group of elderly people decide to go to live in a retirement home in Bangalore, South India.

In the film, the main characters are played by very well-known actors and this helps to differentiate between them. With the book, I had to make notes when I was being introduced to this multitude of characters, so that when they reappeared I could remind myself who they were.

The book is not strong on plot; very little actually happens. The characters fall in or out of love, have good or bad relationships with their children; think about life and death, and the effect their childhood's had on them. This is a book that's mainly about the characters and their relationships, and in fact, almost the first half of the book seems to be taken up with introductions, leaving not too much space for denouements.

This is a multi-viewpoint novel and Deborah Moggach is very skilled at getting inside the heads of her many characters. As someone who has been debating whether or not four or five viewpoints in a novel is too many, I'm impressed by the fact that Deborah Moggach has inhabited 14 or 15 of her characters, and she does this so well that you really feel you know them. It also creates a bond, and enables you to find empathy for even the characters who would probably irritate in real life, notable, Norman, the dirty old man, and possibly Muriel. However, I think there is a problem in that it is difficult to care about quite so many characters. Although the book was very readable, I did begin to wonder, after a while whether we needed yet another character's story; I felt this particularly when Evelyn's son Christopher took the stage, to very little purpose, I thought.

Deborah Moggach writes with plenty of humour and empathy on the subject of retirement and death, though I'm not sure it's a topic I want to be reminded about. Despite the criticism above, it was a good read with a satisfying conclusion and I would probably read more of her writing.

I would probably give it 3.5 stars.
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Nov 27, 2012 Nancy McKibben rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: those who like British humor

Shelves: reviewed

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach

I was familiar with the title only because of the movie (and in fact, the original title from 2004 was These Foolish Things), so I was a bit surprised to find that the hotel of the title is, in fact, more in the way of a retirement home, located in Bangalore, India. The characters who end up there, all British citizens in their 70s and older, are alone in the world, or may as well be, as they are in varying degrees of estrangement from their child...more The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach

I was familiar with the title only because of the movie (and in fact, the original title from 2004 was These Foolish Things), so I was a bit surprised to find that the hotel of the title is, in fact, more in the way of a retirement home, located in Bangalore, India. The characters who end up there, all British citizens in their 70s and older, are alone in the world, or may as well be, as they are in varying degrees of estrangement from their children, some of whom are appalled at the thought of their parents spending their twilight years abroad, and some of whom cannot wait to push their aging parents from the nest.

Although this could be a depressing read, the novel is redeemed by its humor. Here is a description of the reprobate Norman, as seen by his son-in-law (who is Indian):

“Barely a week had passed and already Ravi wanted to murder his father-in-law. Norman was a retired structural engineer, a monumental bore, and a man of repulsive habits. . . His amorous anecdotes, like a loop of Muzak, reappeared with monotonous regularity. Already Ravi had heard, twice this week, the one about catching the clap in Bulawayo.”

It is Ravi whose concept it is to send aging parents to India, and his cousin Sonny, who lives in Bangalore, partners with him to turn the dilapidated Marigold Hotel into a home for the elderly. A shabby, charming habitat, the hotel is at once a last bastion for a vanished era of colonial British life, and a means of introducing its inhabitants to real Indians.

The various retirees - a BBC journalist, a vague pensioner, an ageing femme fatale, and a number of others - form relationships with other and with their Indian hosts.The author skillfully balances her narrative between the hope offered by these new relationships and the melancholy of death and aging.

If you were less than charmed by the film, whose plot and theme veer wildly from the original, please give the book a chance. As so often happens, it is ten times better than the movie it inspired.
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Oct 20, 2012 Danny rated it 5 of 5 stars

Without a doubt, this novel is a member of my top 5 favourite read stories of this year. Where to even begin? Well, you can read the blurb to find out the plot, so i'll refrain from repeating it. This is perhaps one of the best examples since Roy's 'God of Small Things' of the complex Anglo-Indian relationship, post independence. The mix of characters, whilst completely over the top, are a refreshing bunch of fun, quirky, old-school (and inherently racist/ignorant) and Raj yearning individuals....more

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Sep 11, 2012 Asha Rajan rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I started reading this before watching the film and finished it after. Apart from a few character names and a general mashing together of sub-plots, the book and film were quite separate entities.

There were deeply sad tales of the diminishing lives of the various characters.The story brings together disparate characters as their lives intersect in old age. Some of the intersections seemed a little too contrived, but there were no Hollywood endings to be seen.

While the film is funny, poignant and...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Tjode rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: nook-books-library

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 20, 2012 Melissa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Maggoch does a good job of creating older characters and illustrating the challenges of growing older in a world that is obsessed with the young and being young. There were many times while reading that it dawned on me my mother (and my husband’s parents) probably had many of the same opinions and thoughts about us as the characters in the book do about their children. It was unsettling but also illuminating. It is easy to get wrapped up in our own lives and the lives of our children and to thin...more Maggoch does a good job of creating older characters and illustrating the challenges of growing older in a world that is obsessed with the young and being young. There were many times while reading that it dawned on me my mother (and my husband’s parents) probably had many of the same opinions and thoughts about us as the characters in the book do about their children. It was unsettling but also illuminating. It is easy to get wrapped up in our own lives and the lives of our children and to think of our parents as tertiary participants. We want to value their opinion and sometimes we do. Other times, the idea that sprang to life as a teenager and that diminished as we had our own children, that we know more than they do, comes raging back. After all, our parents don’t have the challenges of raising kids that we do. It is “different now.”* Maybe, but chances are we will have the same feelings of dispensibility Moggach’s character’s have.

*I say, tongue planted firmly in cheek.

While it was interesting to read a book centered on a demographic not my own, there were too many other problems with Maggoch’s book for me to give it higher praise than the above. She gives short shrift to the most interesting character she creates and inserts a sub-plot centering on two adult children of different hotel residents that is contrived in the extreme. That these two younger strangers would chance to meet in a country the size of India, fall into bed immediately and…what? I can’t even remember what happened to them. Moggach also feels it necessary to insert a late in life romance but doesn’t bother to really develop the relationship. With the ease of creating characters that are widowed why she would make one of these characters married, to a shrew of course, is beyond me. Having a 70 something man leave his wife because he discovers after 40-50 years of marriage he didn’t like her much is revolting. Is that true to life? Probably. It is still horrible and not what I would expect from a character I am supposed to sympathize with. Why would I want that character to find happiness with anyone else? (I guess at least he didn’t marry a 20-year-old.) It is as if Maggoch liked these two characters a lot and decided to hook them up at the last-minute. Unfortunately, none of the resolutions are satisfying enough to make me want to recommend the book.

Full review: http://wp.me/pns82-14Q (less)

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Jul 27, 2012 Lisa Perkins rated it 3 of 5 stars

3.5 I enjoyed the movie and the book. The good news is the paper version is sufficiently different to the screenplay that you don’t feel like they’re reinventing the wheel.

The basis of the story is the same; a group of seventy-somethings who leave the UK to spend their twilight years at the ultimate retirement home – the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in Bangalore, Southern India. This overseas retreat might not quite live up to the guests expectations, but as their tales unfold and begin to intert...more

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Jul 15, 2012 Melissa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Ok. I loved the movie. Seriously it was the best movie I've seen in ages. I thought, well, maybe I'll read the book. I read an excerpt and it bore no relation to the movie I had seen. I should have stopped there. I purchased the e-book. The movie was wonderful. The book wasn't. Oh, it was well written, but the characters that I loved in the movie were barely present to totally absent in the book. The ones that did double up were 90-100% different. It was jarring. The story was about 25% the same...more

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Jun 27, 2012 Joanne rated it 4 of 5 stars

I saw the movie, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and absolutely loved it. This was a movie that showed older people as interesting humans, even though they were sent away to a retirement home. It was funny and touching and so is the book. It is very strange for me to read a book after I saw the movie but I chose to read it for two reasons: I wanted to compare the movie and the book; and probably the main reason, it was available at the library for my Nook which is not the case for many of the bo...more

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Jun 10, 2012 Dale rated it 4 of 5 stars

Having adored the movie, I was motivated to read the book. I was suspicious when I learned the book had been re-titled to match the movie and re-marketed. Perhaps this is a case of a movie promoting a book. The 2 are very different. While the storyline is the same--outsourcing old age, the stories within are quite different.
Being on the threshold of old-age, I understood the thoughts of the characters very well. Aged people from all walks of life, facing declining financial situations, wanderin...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Annie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I don't usually write reviews, as I find that one either has enjoyed a book, or one hasn't, and the reasons for either are too difficult and subjective to describe properly, but this book spoke to me, and I've seen too much negativity surrounding it to not add my positive two pence worth.

What I found startling as I was reading the book was the fact that I could understand - and at times share - some of the fears and frustrations of the elderly characters. I could be their granddaughter. My grand...more I don't usually write reviews, as I find that one either has enjoyed a book, or one hasn't, and the reasons for either are too difficult and subjective to describe properly, but this book spoke to me, and I've seen too much negativity surrounding it to not add my positive two pence worth.

What I found startling as I was reading the book was the fact that I could understand - and at times share - some of the fears and frustrations of the elderly characters. I could be their granddaughter. My grandfather is their age. And yet, I identified with them, not with their children, or doctors, or nurses, or any of the younger characters. I'd say it's because the author wrote them in a sympathetic sort of way, but that isn't it, for I've always been nostalgic for a past I know lives only in my head, a past I know about from books and movies and stories my grandparents told me of how things were back in their youth.

I've heard the book (and its characters) categorised as racist. I wouldn't say that. I'd just say they were afraid of the unknown, of the unfamiliar, and thought themselves too old to understand or learn anything new. I understood Muriel, trying to navigate (literally and figuratively) a world that has changed and left her behind, a world where she became the minority (in London, even), where she didn't understand the language, the concepts, the behaviour, and all that came across in the translation was the violence and the "otherness" of the people around her.

Back in the days when these people were young, distinctions were of class, not race, or nationality. At least, where they lived. And yet, here, in the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, class is overcome. We see middle class people mingling with housewives and intellectuals and cockneys and Scots from up North and the distinctions blur, because nowadays it's their common heritage and memories of Peggy Lee and Al Jolson and that sentiment of not being needed by those they loved and cherished their whole lives that bring them together, lump them in a sort of class of their own, and whatever divided them before is erased.

Yet, these people are not bigoted. They're clearly "victims" (if one can say that) of their upbringing and their incapacity to understand and fit into the modern world (which, by the by, has no use for them anyway), but they're neither stupid, nor uncaring. I've read them being called "arrogant" or "racist" even when they reach out to those socially below them. I don't think they were, I rather think they reached out in the only way they knew how. They reacted in ways they were conditioned to react, while still retaining a capacity for learning out of their experiences. They are, at best, misguided, but never malicious, toward the Indians and their culture.

Even in their complaining, there's a certain nostalgia for what they've left behind, both in years, and in miles. India is not London. India is certainly not the London (or England) of their youth. A friend of mine, American, used to complain all the time after he moved to Eastern Europe. About how nothing worked, about the corruption, about how, basically, he had been uprooted and moved somewhere else where he didn't always understand the rules. He wasn't a "racist", and neither were these characters. They were simply trying to cope with the new, while, at the same time, they lived in the past stuck in a sort of time-bubble on their verandah, playing bridge and eating dinners and filling in crossword puzzles.

Another thing I found interesting was how we seem to have been conditioned to start feeling old as our bodies grow older. They were old, by our standards, but they needn't have died before their bodies did, yet, society more or less expected them to. To retire, to go quietly in to that dark night, disappear. It was David Mitchell in "Cloud Atlas" who said "the world will do business with dictators, perverts, and drug barons of all stripes, but being slowed down it cannot abide. Our second offence is being everyman's memento mori. The world can only get comfy in shiny-eyed denial if we are out of sight." And how right he seems to be, especially when placed in contrast with the Indians, to whom taking care of their parents and family (however obnoxious they might be) is a sacred duty.

Yet, these characters, these people, are alive! They still have dreams and hopes and disappointments, and in the case of Madge and Evelyn and Douglas can fall in and out of love, just like "young" people do. Perhaps more soberly, for life has thought them a thing or two.

I think this passage, quoted from the book itself, sums up what I saw in it rather nicely: "Their memories are of a world that is already history: a world where children were seen but not heard, where men looked after women. Where women cared for men. The witnesses to this world are disappearing one by one." I think the book should be viewed in the light of their morals, their values, not our own modern and often over sensitive political correctness, in order to be enjoyed.(less)

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Jan 12, 2013 Andrew rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013

How to sum up The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel...
Firstly, I have not seen the film, so I had no expectations based on that, although the edition that I own is the tie in with the movie.
There are a lot of characters, and they are introduced in a way that is not all that skill full. In fact three are so many that, once I was into the book, when a chapter that concentrated on one character ended and the next started, I would often have to think about who that was and what their backstory was.
All o...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ok, here I go again, trying to enjoy reading a book on my Kindle :/
....

This time, I did enjoy reading the book on my Kindle...but it is still too heavy to hold up in the air while I am reclining :/

I enjoyed this novel, but I guess I was expecting it to be more like the movie than it is. The movie producers changed the characters... I believe the names were the same, although quite a few more people were added. The movie also had the hotel run by the youngest son in the family business - quite a...more

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May 16, 2012 Adam rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: india

This book disappointed me.

It was first published (in 2004) with the title “Those Foolish Things.” It was later renamed “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” following the release in 2011 of the film with that name, which is based on it.

I read the book because I had seen the film and enjoyed it, and also because unlike the film, which is mostly set in a small town in Rajasthan, the novel is set mostly in Bangalore, a city that I know quite well.

Had I not seen the film first, I might have abandoned the...more This book disappointed me.

It was first published (in 2004) with the title “Those Foolish Things.” It was later renamed “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” following the release in 2011 of the film with that name, which is based on it.

I read the book because I had seen the film and enjoyed it, and also because unlike the film, which is mostly set in a small town in Rajasthan, the novel is set mostly in Bangalore, a city that I know quite well.

Had I not seen the film first, I might have abandoned the book before reading too far into it. The first section of the book provides a series of realistic portrayals of the fears of elderly retired people facing rejection by the younger generation and also anticipating their gradual decline towards death. However, I pressed on with reading this well-paced novel because I knew from the film that things were likely to start looking up as the people, who were being described, were about to take off to spend the rest of their retirement in a hotel in India.

I don’t know whether the author has actually visited India, but I got the feeling from reading this book that she might not have done so. Although the book is not exactly about India, I felt that the author did not transport me to India. She did not allow me to visualise a real place as I read her book.

Some of the retired English people in the hotel in Bangalore used email. This suggests to me that the writer was writing about recent times. However, the Bangalore that she describes does not sound nearly as sophisticated as the city actually is. I thought as I read the book that she could have been describing almost anywhere, throwing in a few local terms to remind the reader that it was India rather than anywhere else.

Sevearal specific things particularly irritated me about this book. One occurred on page 169 of my edition. Dorothy and Douglas are discussing something between themselves. The proof-reader and the editor failed to spot the subject of the sentence: “Donald paused” is ‘Donald’ rather than ‘Douglas’, which it was supposed to be. This is careless in a best seller. On page 186, another problem occurred. Evelyn, one of the retired Brits, is given a business card, which reads ‘Dr Gulvinder Gaya, BA (Failed)’. The reason that Dr Gaya included the sad outcome of his degree is, I believe, to tell the recipient of his business card that he managed to gain admission into a university, which in itself was an achievement to be proud of. I hope that I am wrong, but I had the impression that the author chose to include this for reasons that may have had more to do with making fun of the Indian, than for any other reason. Another small gripe, if I am permitted to make any more of them, is that twice Ms Moggach refers to visiting a temple at ‘Halebib’. Was she inventing a new temple site or did she incorrectly spell the name Halebid, which is a real temple of some note a few hours drive from Bangalore?

Despite my reservations about Ms Moggach’s portrayal of India and the Indians, this novel is a creditable effort to illustrate the fears and concerns of those in the twilight of their lives.

The best thing about Ms Moggach’s book is that it inspired someone to make an excellent film, whose plot and sympathetic portrayal of India and the Indians is far better than the original story upon which it is loosely based.
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Jan 04, 2013 VerJean rated it 4 of 5 stars

Fun read. It's fiction and has some 'holes' that could be called weak spots - - but what the heck - it has lots of human interest, children's reactions to elderly parents, and elder realities of elderness. All that elder-said, it's still a fun book with lots of unique characters.
Then the setting of somewhat 'cast-off' Brits in the country of castes in the cast off British empire and with the CAST of actors in the movie . . .
The books seems to be just the tip of an iceberg of further plots and e...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Jaipal rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this book because of the movie. It is a very different from the movie, not better, but different. This is a book about retirees. How they cope with abandonment and living in an old folks home. It brings together a lot of elements, lost of love ones, abandonment, new beginnings, adventure, wish fulfillment, etc. It can be depressing, but I find it a good study of character. Some people thrive while others flounder. At the end of it all, I find that it all depends on the people around you....more

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Feb 11, 2013 Raquel rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, february

Not terribly entertaining; great premise but disappointing delivery. I think the author tried to do too much with this large ensemble cast of characters. She ended up paying too much attention to unimportant plot points and uninteresting characters and glossing over important people and plot points. Nothing ever really came together. The climax wasn't very interesting. Also, I had some issues with how India and Indians were portrayed in this book--they were sort of caricatures of themselves, and...more

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Aug 03, 2012 Huw Rhys rated it 4 of 5 stars

A few friends had seen this film, and had told me it was "so-so" - and therefore using the logic that the novel is usually better than the film, I gave the book a go.

I wasn't disappointed.

Although I'm not 100% sure what this book is really about. Is it about ageing, coming to terms with impending death whilst living each day for all it's worth? Is the message actually deeper than that - is it about the things in life for which we look towards to find value in our lives? Is it something even more...more

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May 31, 2013 Christine rated it 2 of 5 stars

Yet another book written by a white person about white people finding themselves and learning valuable life lessons in the exotic Orient. Is this the 21st century or not? This kind of exoticization of a nation that isn't so far away and unknowable in the digital age has no place any longer. There is a constant harping on about the 'serenity' and 'resignation' of the simple yet harmonious but wretchedly poor Indians in India (the "noble savage" trope that I'd hoped died back in the Victorian/Edwa...more

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About Deborah Moggach

Deborah Moggach is a British writer, born Deborah Hough on 28 June 1948. She has written fifteen novels to date, including The Ex-Wives, Tulip Fever, and, most recently, These Foolish Things. She has adapted many of her novels as TV dramas and has also written several film scripts, including the BAFTA-nominated screenplay for Pride & Prejudice. She has also written two collections of short sto...more

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