Named a Must-Read Book of the Summer by Cosmopolitan, PopSugar, Bustle, Book Riot, and more!
Portuguese Translation by Quinta Essência
Italian Translation by Newton Compton Editori
To Leila Abid’s traditional Indian parents, finding a husband in their South Asian-Muslim American community is as easy as match, meet, marry. But for Leila, a marriage of arrangement clashes with her lifelong dreams of a Bollywood romance which has her convinced that real love happens before marriage, not the other way around.
Finding the right husband was always part of her life-plan, but after 26 years of singledom, even Leila is starting to get nervous. And to make matters worse, her parents are panicking, the neighbors are talking, and she’s wondering, are her expectations just too high? So Leila decides it’s time to stop dreaming and start dating.
She makes a deal with her parents: they’ll give her three months, until their 30th wedding anniversary, to find a husband on her own terms. But if she fails, they’ll take over and arrange her marriage for her.
With the stakes set, Leila succumbs to the impossible mission of satisfying her parents’ expectations, while also fulfilling her own western ideals of love. But after a series of speed dates, blind dates, online dates and even ambush dates, the sparks just don’t fly! And now, with the marriage clock ticking, and her 3-month deadline looming in the horizon, Leila must face the consequences of what might happen if she doesn’t find “the one…”
Praise for “The Marriage Clock”
“An intimate and entertaining glimpse into the life of a young Muslim American woman whose family wants her married. Now! You’ll want to read this in one sitting.” — Susan Elizabeth Phillips, New York Times bestselling author
"So fresh and charming and fun! I adored being in Leila's world, from her girls' nights with her friends to her conversations with her loving, pressuring parents to her many first dates. What a joy to read." — Julia Phillips, author of Disappearing Earth
"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. This charming and humorous novel will appeal to a wide audience and should be an excellent fit for all public libraries.”— The Library Journal
“Raheem’s debut uses chick-lit tropes to smartly skewer modern ways of dating and to bring humor to more traditional South Asian ones.”— Booklist
"Please cancel your weekend plans, because once you dive into The Marriage Clock, it'll be impossible to tear yourself away. This romantic and insightful book introduces us to Leila Abid, who's torn between her traditional parents trying to arrange her marriage and her own desire for agency." — Cosmopolitan
"The Marriage Clock is a warm, funny debut novel about love, how we find it, and how we can keep it." — POPSUGAR
“A fun book with some great characters. It’s worth taking the journey with Leila to see if she can find her own perfect happily ever after.”— Seattle Book Review
“A relatable story of the challenges of falling in love in the modern time.”— The Times of India
“The Marriage Clock is a tale of love, family, friends and marriage…A fast-paced story with lots of laugh-out-loud moments…Raheem’s writing is engaging with fun, tongue-in-cheek humour and satire that keeps readers hooked.”— Dawn Newspaper
"Zara Raheem's The Marriage Clock is a unique, beautiful story about a woman coming to accept herself – and the notion that maybe marriage isn't everything." — All About Romance
"In the face of ubiquitous cultural traditions that measure a woman's worth by her marriageability, Leila's journey shows us that the true measure of a woman's worth is that she values herself." — BookTrib
"Zara Raheem's The Marriage Clock takes a unique and charming look at the beliefs we hold in regard to love and marriage." — Culturess/Fansided
“We loved how Zara tackled the subject of arranged marriages in the Indian community…[and] the realities of our cultural upbringings in the novel – not the usual stereotypes, but one that reminds us of the young women we know who have found a comfortable balance between their inherited traditions and their chosen trajectory.”—The Tempest
“With all the traction that representation and diversity has been getting in books and film, The Marriage Clock is a strong contributor to the conversation.”—Cultured Vultures
“The Marriage Clock” by Zara Raheem offers a glimpse into what the conversation about marriage is like within South Asian families.”—Brown Girl Magazine
“Raheem contributes thoughtful humor, well-drawn characters and a beautiful portrait of navigating cultural expectations with personal fulfillment.”—Booktrib
Press for “The Marriage Clock”
Named a Best Romance/Summer Read of 2019 by Cosmopolitan, Library Journal, The Everygirl, Goodreads, Women.com, POPSUGAR, The Times of India, Bookriot, Bustle, Booktrib, and more!
Highlighted in NBC News, The Washington Post, NY Times, Los Angeles Times, PBS Rewire, Electric Lit, MuslimGirl, and the Washington Independent Review of Books