I
This entertaining debut novel works not as a cricketing tale but as an entirely enjoyable romantic comedy
The pace rarely flags, and Zoya herself is that rarity in our contemporary fiction, a genuinely likeable protagonist. Moreover, its setting is one barely covered by more "literary" writers, a dynamic, young middle-class urban India. Zoya is its authentic embodiment.
Readers will connect with her droll takes on a variety of subjects: the marriage market, the tendency of NDTV newsreaders to parrot their boss’s style, peculiarly emphasised phrasing and all, or how many of Delhi’s less fashionable addresses have a soul that the posh bits lack. Equally, they will see themselves reflected in Zoya’s appealing meld of insecure ditziness and midnight-oil burning professionalism. The only flaw is that media coverage has made India’s real cricketers too well-known for us to visualise the fictional ones. Luckily, where The Zoya Factor really works is not as a cricketing tale but as an entirely enjoyable romantic comedy.