A Suitable Boy was set against the backdrop of a newly independent India and followed the lives of four families across several cities, as the central character Lata's mother searched for a suitable groom for her.
In the sequel, Seth will bring the narrative up to the present day, encompassing some of the enormous social and economic changes India has undergone in the last sixty years. Lata, the sparky and rebellious heroine of A Suitable Boy, is now a grandmother, and her grandson is the one in search of a good match.
The 1,350-page A Suitable Boy sold over a quarter of a million copies in hardback and over a million copies in paperback.
Ravi Singh of Penguin India (which will be publishing the sequel), said, 'Few writers anywhere inspire as much respect, excitement and affection among readers as Vikram Seth. His magnificent novel A Suitable Boy -- memorably described as a long, sweet pilgrimage to life -- was in many ways a defining work of contemporary Indian writing.'