Deborah Moggach has written some cracking books, most notably
Tulip Fever. Hot Water man is a curiosity, which never quite works. The title refers to a possible holy man, helpful to women with fertility problems.
I surmise that with this book Moggach is trying to cover some similar territory to books like 'A Passage to India', though for Pakistan. It is set shortly post 70's feminism and consciousness raising, and examines an English couple who come to Karachi, and various encounters.Donald has a history with Pakistan via a grandfather who was part of that British Empire time, before Partition. Christine has been influenced by 70's feminism - enough to feel discontented, but not enough to find her own identity. She wants to capture an experience of 'real Pakistan' but in fact assimilates less than the more conventional, colonial, Donald. Duke is an American Man seeking to bring a tourist industry to Pakistan, who embarks on a rather improbable relationship with a sophisticated, Westernised Pakistani woman. Donald discovers shocking things about his grandfather, and is disabused of hero-worship. Christine fails to understand or be accepted by 'ordinary Pakistanis' and struggles in her marriage. All three central characters have dramatic, cataclysmic experiences which challenge and change them. However, the experiences are somehow not quite believable. The book feels rather like 'an idea' which doesn't quite get off the ground because the characters are not believable enough for the 'events' to ring true - the events might happen but not understandably to these particular characters - or the coincidences (such as Donald's possible discovery of his grandfather's past) enabling the events to happen, seem contrived
