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By Kathleen Litchfield
Special to the Rappahannock News
Author Sabeeha Johnson is no stranger to arranged marriages.
Her parents, all of her cousins and most of the 200 girls she went to the exclusive St. George’s Grammar School with in Hyderabad, India, married men arranged for by their parents through matchmakers.
The Flint Hill resident’s most recent work explores that idea.
Entitled, “The Spice Bazaar,” it is one of four novellas, or short stories, comprising the matchmaking anthology, “Playing with Matches,” published by Signet/Penguin Putnam Inc. this month.
The anthology, which Johnson described as “matchmaking gone awry in four Asian communities,” includes three other novellas written by a half Chinese-American, a half JapaneseAmerican and a half VietnameseAmerican, she said.
Johnson grew up in the city of Hyderabad, India, where traditional matchmakers visited a young woman’s home to observe her family’s behavior for several days.
The matchmakers carefully investigated a man’s family background, genetics, class, basic moral values and economic stability. After choosing whom they believed to be the perfect match for a young woman, they brought his photograph and resume to the family for approval.
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