Imaginary Men

by Anjali Banerjee

This charming novel about a Bengali-American matchmaker in San Francisco who creates an imaginary fiancé in order to satisfy her marriage-minded traditional parents offers a fresh variation on the timeless theme of a young woman's quest for true love.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Lina Ray has a knack for pairing up perfect couples as a professional matchmaker in San Francisco, but her well-meaning, highly traditional Indian family wants her to get married. When her Auntie Kiki introduces Lina to the bachelor from hell at her sister's wedding in India, Lina panics and blurts out, "I'm engaged!" Because what's the harm in a little lie?

Who's sari now?

Lina scrambles to find a real fiancé because Auntie Kiki will be coming to America soon to approve the match. But date after disastrous date gets her no closer to her prince -- until an actual prince arrives on her doorstep. Lina hasn't been able to stop fantasizing about traditional but dashing Raja Prasad since she met him in India. In fact, her imaginary fiancé has begun to resemble him! Now Raja is in San Francisco and wants Lina to find a suitable bride for his brother. Though they live oceans apart, Lina longs to bridge the gap. But when her fantastic fib catches up with her, life is suddenly like a Bollywood flick gone horribly wrong. Lina may have an over-developed fantasy life, but she certainly never imagined things would turn out like this!

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, India, Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Family

236 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2005

About the author

I was born in India, raised in Canada and California, and I now live in the Pacific Northwest, in a cottage in the woods, with my husband and six rescued cats.

I've always loved to write. When I was seven, I penned my first story about an abandoned puppy on a beach in Bengal. Then, inspired by my maternal grandmother—an English writer who lived in India—I wrote a mystery, The Green Secret, at the age of nine. I illustrated the book, stapled the pages together and pasted a copyright notice inside the front cover. After that, I churned out a series of mysteries and adventure novels with preposterous premises and impossible plots.

Growing up in a small town in Manitoba, Canada, my favorite family event was the weekly drive to the garbage dump to watch for bears. I also loved jaunts to the library, where I checked out the same Curious George books dozens of times. I adored a picture book called The Bear Who Couldn’t Sleep, starring a baby bear who refused to hibernate in winter. My favorite authors were Enid Blyton, Agatha Christie, Alexander Key, C.S. Lewis and others. Every night my dad read to me from C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia or Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

After I grew up and finished university, I tried on jobs like new sets of clothes before rediscovering my love for writing. Since then, my fiction has appeared in several literary journals and an anthology, and I was a contributing writer for three regional history books and local newspapers before I began writing novels.

I've now written five novels for youngsters and four for grownups, including ENCHANTING LILY. Romantic Times magazine gave ENCHANTING LILY a top rating of 4.5 stars: "This is a wonderful story with lovable characters who are trying to start fresh after tragedy touches their lives. Readers will fall head over heels for a four-legged character who almost upstages the two-legged leads.”

Of my recent novel, HAUNTING JASMINE, Melinda Bargreen of The Seattle Times wrote, “Banerjee invites the reader into her colorful, hopeful world, one in which the Northwest island tides coexist with the ghost of Julia Child, Charles Dickens’ mirror, and a sari or two.”

I've had many more wonderful reviews, but like any author, I know what it's like to receive a not-so-nice review. So I'm going to review only the books I love. I want to put positive energy out into the world.

Thank you for reading my books!

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I learned that I too can write a mediocre chick lit novel because all you need to get one published is:

- gutsy, accomplished, strong-minded protagonists and a dimwitted, medieval-minded, antifeminist supporting cast

- an obstacle that, even if I keep describing it as impossible, is really not an obstacle just a mere wall 6 inches from the floor that the protagonist is too lazy to step over

- a really really really good-looking (and obvious) love interest

- to really get my book published, i should include something "exotic" like Indian culture and describe it as stereotypically as possible with words like "spicy" and "sweat"

- accessible language; and by accessible, i mean sixth grade slang and sentence structure

[Nisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up, loving the premise. An American Desi woman who feels pressured to get married after her younger sister gets married (almost) the traditional way. At 29, her extended family try to introduce her to suitable matches - to which American raised Lina was much too independent to handle. So she lies, starting with the creation of a fiance who is absolutely to die for, IF he existed. She even manages to name him 'Raja' after an sexy (but supposedly a traditional Indian) stranger she meets during the wedding. Now, Lina has to find herself the perfect man to make her lies truth, but on the way, her own past and her values make her question what she really wants.

The good things include this light-hearted story (very chick-lit, but why else would I pick it up), comedy, and fun characters. I especially liked the gay friend, Harry Kumar, though I wished he made more of an appearance. Lina's sisters were also nicely described, if not a little flat in development. Raja was also exciting as the sexy stranger who wants to know more about Lina.

But, as a Indian woman raised completely in America, I couldn't understand a lot of things about Lina. Ok, I can understand her to an extent. But not as Ms. Banerjee tries to portray her. Lina does not speak her mother-tongue so feels no real connection with India. So when she does go to India, her view is one a tourist, often complaining about the inconveniences or describing the cultural absurdities. This is fine, until I remember that Lina is 30. For a woman of 30, she speaks as if she was an angsty teenager rebelling against the walls of her culture. Which is even a bigger contradiction, since her family isn't orthodox and are open American culture. They don't follow the caste system and don't require her to stay with the family, as unmarried Indian women are expected to do. They don't even mind her finding someone who isn't Bengali. Now, tell me, where is that wall?

Clearly, I feel like Ms. Banerjee fails to create an accurate picture of American desi lifestyle.

Also, as many Desi chick lits, the romance part falls flat. Raja was created nicely, until he became a cardboard cutout - wasting the potential character development about bridging 2 cultures. Actually, there was no real romance, just a prince who would make Lina's fairy tale ending come true.

I can recommend it as one of the better books of the genre, but it is mediocre in delivery.

[Book Concierge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lina Ray is a professional matchmaker in the San Francisco bay area who has yet to make her own match. When at her sister’s wedding in India, her Aunt Kiki insists on arranging a marriage. To save herself from “the bachelor from hell” she blurts out “I’m engaged!” Before she knows it she has invented a gorgeous, rich man, and now Aunt Kiki is headed to California to check him out and confirm the match. Lina has just two months to meet and get engaged to her dream prince!

Okay, this is chick-lit, with a cultural nuance. The characters are thinly drawn caricatures, and the plot is what you’d expect from the description. It’s a fast, fun read, but there isn’t much substance here. Sometimes a girl just needs a little mind candy; it did satisfy several challenges for me, and it’s one more book off the TBR mountain.

[Ajoke · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing was a bit too elementary for me. And it's not a good book to read after having just finished The Tea Rose. I don't want to give it an unfair review but it was hard to grow attached to any of the characters. The entire time I kept thinking of how detached I felt from the characters and the plot. Even when she tries to be creative with her story telling she still falls short. Jumping from one situation to the next and concluding chapters or paragraphs with no resolutions. I had a feeling that something was amiss for the entirety of the novel... Then there were all those Hindi words that were italicized; which I thought was because she'd have a glossary in the back for, but it was just for emphasis and grew tiresome after a while.

I will, however, give her credit for her description of places and events in India.

[Katjusa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this because Amazon suggested it as a related book I might enjoy. Over and over, I found myself having to reread passages because my mind had wandered. Superficial characters, predictable plot. It has a few cute moments and good observations but overall "Imaginary Men" comes off as clueless fluff.

[Karina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute multi-cultural chick lit that any forward-thinking woman can relate to. It also has a bit of Elizabeth/Darcy flavoring thrown in as well...and real princes :).

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lying is not a good thing; I think we all know that. Lying about relationships is obviously a bad idea and lying about relationships to your relations is a recipe for disaster.

When Lina goes to her younger sister’s wedding, her relatives start pressurising her to marry a ‘nice boy’ and begin lining up what they consider to be suitable candidates. Lina does the worst possible thing and makes up a fiancé. Normal standard chick-lit would only require to make up a boyfriend but Lina’s life’s not quite so simple. Whilst she lives in California, her family is from Calcutta and you can’t just make up a boyfriend without your relatives thinking you’re a bit of a loose woman. Lina should have known better but it’s amazing what panic and pressure can make you do. Threatened with a visit from her Auntie Kiki who wants to come and meet the prospective groom and give her approval, Lina needs to find a fiancé and find him quickly.

Finding a man shouldn’t be too hard because Lina – ever so conveniently – just happens to be a matchmaker. She claims to use a mix of mathematics and instinct, saying she sees fine silver threads stretching between matched couples. Yeah really? Give me a break, please. Taking advantage of access to all the company files she’s soon out having dinner with a young doctor so tired he falls asleep over dinner, a smarmy man with a suspiciously white mark on his ring finger, and various other dodgy blokes. Telling her parents and sister that her chap is called Raja (the name of a good looking but rather too traditional hunk whom she met at her sister’s wedding), she soon has her conveniently trendy but gay friend Harry leaving his clothes and toiletries around her flat to persuade her sister that things in the love-bed are rosy. She can keep the family at bay with claims that Raja is ‘travelling’ but sooner or later she’ll have to provide them with a man to appraise.

Soon the aforementioned hunk, Raja, turns up hotfoot from Calcutta to ask Lina to find a bride for his brother. Lina’s attracted to Raja but not to his traditional values. He wants a stay at home wife who’ll look after his mother. But as their attempts to match his brother progress, Lina starts to see another side of Raja and you can pretty much predict most of what will follow. Both love their lives and the countries they live in but there’s no way both can have what they want. And of course sooner or later Raja’s sure to find out that Lina’s supposed to have a fiancé.

If I was feeling charitable I’d describe the plot as very slightly redolent of a Shakespearean comedy with all its comedy of errors and misunderstandings. Or possibly I could draw parallels with Jane Austin’s approach to social manners and family life. There’s a little bit of Pride and Prejudice going on (but with only 3 sisters this time). But I’m not feeling charitable so I’ll tell you inside that it’s just a rather lightweight bit of chick-lit ‘pap’ that doesn’t really justify cutting down trees to make the paper. I had the plot worked out from page 26, complete with a few of the twists along the way. It really was extraordinarily predictable. The most annoying character in the book was the ‘imaginary man’ who crops up every few pages as Lina’s conscience, testing and tormenting her and challenging her ideas. It really was too silly for words.

I suspect that the people who like chick lit kind of expect that sort of thing so I shouldn’t be too cruel. I don’t normally read this sort of silly romance but I will read anything (good, bad or indifferent) if it’s got an Indian ‘flavour’ to it and I’m particularly interested in inter-cultural conflict and the whole issue of people struggling to ‘fit in’ and finding their place in society. Whilst I don’t regret the short time spent on reading this one you probably won’t be surprised to hear I won’t be keeping it in my Indian collection.

[Rucha · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some things I appreciated about this book, and some things I didn't. Let's start out with the positive-I could relate to the character as a single Desi woman raised in the U.S. who comes from a middle-class, well-to-do family, feeling the pressures of marriage brought on by culture and patriarchy. I also call my parents ma and baba, feel a close connection to India although as an Indian-American at times feel lost and strange in a country I was born in, and love living in my own apartment with hard wood floors, in a west coast city.

I am glad that Banerjee also created a female, Desi character who was open about her sexuality and did not shy away from being explicit about Lina's fantasies and desires, especially when the book got a little saucy when Lina took a shower in Raja's hotel room shower. I also like that the author gave Lina a gay best friend, especially since homosexuality has been a taboo topic to discuss among Indians & Indian-Americans, until recently.

Okay, the not so good things- The book isn't written very well, which makes it a quick read. It does have its moments, when the words form vivid sentences that you can easily imagine. Overall though at times when I was reading the book I felt like Banerjee was trying too hard to create analogies or descriptions, it seemed force, and didn't come out organically.

Also, the whole imaginary man idea got old. Although I appreciate that the author was trying to establish Lina as unable to get over a fiance who in her mind was still the ideal to which she measured every man against, there were moments in the storyline when the imaginary man could have been left out.

The story is a little over-the-top for me. Creating fiances, meeting a prince who pursues and chases, holding the prince on a pedestal, hanging off every word he says, it's all so Disney. There were times when I was irritated that Lina didn't have a spine and went along with whatever Raja said and did. It seemed to be all about him, getting to know him, trying to figure him out, scanning his hotel room for clues into his personality, talking to his mom about his childhood. What about her? What about her past, her childhood? It was too much.

I can see this book being turned into a chick flick, easily. Maybe that was what Banerjee was attempting.

[Robbin Melton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Indian fiction and this book is almost perfect! It's fast-paced, sweet, funny and quirky. It's the age-old story about a woman unexpectedly meeting her prince charming. The only flaw in the story, however, is it moved a bit too fast about two-thirds through the book. And, towards the last few chapters, this tale was moving so fast a lot of details got lost and you have to use your imagination. The story does have two cute twists to it, though, and it does make for very entertaining reading. I only wish the story was fleshed out more in the last third of the book. I recommend as part of your summer beach reading.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big dumb fun. I read this last night in 3 hours, not sure why I put it on reserve at the library; it must have been in a Jane Austen tribute list or something. It was predictable, but lovable. The main character is a matchmaker in San Franscico, orginally from India. After the wedding of her sister, she dreams up the perfect fiance...a prince, and is mortified when she can't come clean to her family and they expect to meet him. Of course she ends up with a prince, really...but it's not a plot spoiler, because COME ON, you knew she would anywho.

I'm not sure why I liked this book as much as I did. But I did. Oh well, at least I wasn't angry staying up late until midnight reading it!

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lina makes a living by pairing up the perfect couples to be married. After losing her fiance in an accident, Lina prefers to continue being the Matchmaker instead of looking for love again. While in India for her sister's wedding she creates a little "white lie" that she is engaged to avoid marital pressures from her family. Little did she know how the lie could spiral into a big misunderstanding. Along the way, she meets Raja. Could he be the perfect man for Lina? Romantic and funny. A quick read to start off the new year!

[Melody Loomis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute book. I read it because I wanted something fun and breezy to read, and this was. I do feel the ending was a bit rushed though. As soon as Raja comes into the picture again, that whole part of the book was rushed. I don’t know if the author just wanted to go ahead and wrap it up or what, but might have been nice for a little more to the story. But I won’t complain too much…I wanted a fast read and this one was.

[shruti · Rating 1 out of 5]

Most people think chick lit is bad writing but this is just badly-written chick lit. Plot points are introduced randomly, characters are never fully fleshed out...I can handle strange chick lit premises but they need to be well-written. I hate to pan someone's writing because I don't know if I could do better, but this was really hard to read.

[Jess Edgar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was sent to me by a friend and I loved it! It was really cute and I found myself rooting for imaginary men along the way. This book reminds me a bit of You've Got Mail because it's a cute little romance story and you're not sure if you should root for certain suitors or not. Definitely recommend if you're looking for a light read.

[aarthi · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is terrible. Don't waste a moment of your life reading it. I got the idea from others that it would be amusing to see what desi chick lit is, but having dipped a millimeter of my toe into it, I ran away screaming. It's the brown equivalent of shuffling.

[Dorothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent combination of cross cultural travels and comedy. I was touched by the innocent and loving side of the lead. She tries to find Mr Right for herself and for her family while keeping one food in America and one in India.

[Anna-Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an awesome tomance novel in Bollywood style!

I loved the funny and so realistic characters and the fact that this wasn't a love story with kitsch. It was cute, a fast read and touching. It was a book which made me sigh in the end. :)

[S. Wigget · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't normally read romance novels, but this reminds me of Bollywood movies... and of Pride and Prejudice. It's hilarious, and I read it in one evening.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book gets 2.5 stars from me because it was a quick and easy read, which we all need sometimes. But really?..... Superficial characters and a predictable plot; the writing was a bit elementary for my taste.
Lina is a matchmaker who lives in San Francisco, but who is Indian by birth and whose traditional parents still live in India. Two years ago her fiancé died, and Lina has never gotten over him, and never got back into the dating scene. At Lina’s sister’s wedding, in India, Lina is faced with matchmaking parents. Foolishly, she makes up a fiancé who doesn’t exist (except as a person she met that evening about whom she is now fantasizing).
Her dead fiancé follows her around and talks to her – and she talks back.
I really don’t like books where a stumbling protagonist just makes things worse by piling lies upon lies. A simple lie to get her through the evening has her subsequently establishing a whole persona about her fictional fiancé – having a friend send her postcards from around the world, for instance. Don’t they know it will only be worse in the end? I have no patience for this type of story.
It isn’t a bad story – it just isn’t memorable. I recommend it for your easy beach reading.

[Marisa Gonzalez · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young woman goes to her sister's wedding in India. Feeling pressure from the family to marry she lies by stating that she is engaged to a handsome rich man only to meet a handsome rich man that evening who she is interested in. Her dilemma, finding a rich man to get engaged to before the family discovers her lie and whether or not she should pursue a long distance relationship with the man she met that evening. This book follows a basic formula for chick lit. It was very silly with little conflict and barely any plot.

[Denise Tarasuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Light and fun! Anjali Banerjee let you in with the main character who gets herself into a big mess with an Imaginary Man! As reader I felt like I was part of the family, grasping for air, trying to solve the problem and find Mr. Right. Fun to the very last page. Enjoyment! I could not put Imaginary Men down!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rounded up from 2.5. First half was not good and the American desi mental conflict felt very shallow and almost like that of a foreigner in India for the first time. If the second half hadn’t felt marginally better it would have been a ⭐️ for me. Romance was pretty flat like mentioned in other reviews.

[Nancy Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really interesting story. If only it were as simple as being able to see a silver thread connect one heart to another to find true love. That would be something to witness each day. I did like Lina. She was strong, determined, and willing to be true to herself.

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Predictable romance about a woman who meets a mystery man in a garden, then makes up an imaginary fiancee to get her family to stop nagging her, and gives him the mystery man's name. Guess where this goes?

[Hailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was super cute and a quick read! Finished within 24 hours :)

[Hippiemouse420 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just awful.

[Neha Virk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, easy read

[Stefanie Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[A · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had originally read this book years ago, but after organizing my bookshelf and finding it again, I decided to reread.

The main character, Lina Ray, is very weird and off-putting. Despite being born in India, Lina is so painfully Americanized and whitewashed. She doesn't speak her mother tongue, wipes her ass instead of washing (and claims she will never learn how to use the water tap...I wanted to vomit), thinks "cooking" means pouring milk over cereal (haha so quirky!!!11) and tends to describe everyone as smelling like sweat.

The way Lina described herself while trying on clothes made me roll my eyes so hard. She puts on a maroon dress which makes her look like a "bruised apple", she wears a black dress and resembles a "burnt sausage". In a purple dress, she looks like a "dehydrated grape".

It's painfully obvious that the author is trying to make this character "not like other traditional girls" because Lina doesn't wear sarees, she wears flannel pajamas! In reality, she's a hot mess and just annoyed me throughout. Lina considers herself a smart, indepdendent American woman but whenever she's in Raja Prasad's presence, she gets all stupid. I thought she was pathetic and really couldn't relate to her at all. Lina also tends to talks to herself (well, to an imaginary man she created in her head). Also, for the love of God...please come up with a new adjective instead of describing everything as "peachy."

It was an easy read and had its moments, though. The writing style was like the character was talking directly to the reader, which is my preferred style. I like how Lina saw shimmering threads connecting lovers together, I thought that detail was very cute and lovely.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The problem with putting books aside to journal later, is that you often forget what you wanted to say about them. I'm at a point in my life, when do to circumstances and responsibilities, I only seem to be able to tolerate light, semi-frivolous reads; ones that entertain and amuse and don't demand much thought or concentration.

This book, which was left on a take a book, leave a book shelf that is a BookCrossing zone, seemed like it might fit the bill -- and it did. Having spent time living in India, I could appreciate Indian born, but American raised Lina's reactions to returning to India for the full scale Brahman wedding of her younger sister. And, having once made up an imaginary beau who I told my friends I was out on dates with rather than go to parties I didn't want to, I can understand the impulse that caused Lina to make up a fiance to get her family off her back. Her journey from imaginary men to real relationships was amusing (though once again, I have to ask the age old question: why a gay best friend???)

I also appreciated Lina's growing awareness of the two cultures that made up her life; the discovery of beauty where she once only saw a cacophony of colors, smells, opulence and squalor; the recognition that the things she took for granted, such as not water when you turn a faucet are a privilege, not an inalienable right.

All in all, it was a good way to escape between the pages of a book. Light entertaining, thought provoking, but not all-consuming.