The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel cover art

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

By: Deborah Moggach
Narrated by: Nina Wadia
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £14.99

Buy Now for £14.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

When Ravi Kapoor, an overworked London doctor, is driven beyond endurance by his disgusting and difficult father-in-law, he asks his wife: "Can't we just send him away somewhere? Somewhere far, far away."

His prayer seems to have been answered when his entrepreneurial cousin, Sonny, sets up a retirement home, recreating a lost corner of England in a converted guesthouse in Bangalore. Travel and set-up are inexpensive, staff willing and plentiful - and the British pensioners can enjoy the hot weather and take mango juice with their gin.

©2004 Deborah Moggach (P)2005 W F Howes Ltd Action & Adventure Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Movie, TV & Video Game Tie-Ins Romance Tie-in Fiction England Comedy Funny Feel-Good

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Ex-Wives cover art
My Family and Other Animals cover art
Elephant Moon cover art
The Carer cover art
Home Front: The Complete BBC Radio Collection, Volume 1 cover art
Something to Hide cover art
Blott on the Landscape cover art
A Surprise Christmas Wedding cover art
Starting Over at Primrose Woods cover art
Playing in the Light cover art
Love & Dr. Devon cover art
Snowed in at the Practice cover art
A Prayer for Owen Meany cover art
Cast in Shadow cover art
The Complete Jaipur Trilogy cover art
The Darcys of Pemberley cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
I bought this audio book expecting it to be almost identical to the film version; figuring that the book would only have been slightly adapted for the transition to the big screen. However the book is far more richly detailed with some of the characters' life stories differing widely from the film portrayal. Both book and film are enjoyable but I would highly recommend the book.

Much better than the film version

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed this book, it was gentle listening, not gripping. Lots of differences from the film.

LOTS of characters, not a good book if you're easily confused - I had to relisten to parts!

Quite different from the film

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

If you could sum up The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in three words, what would they be?

Poignant expat story

What did you like best about this story?

The characterisation is very well done, each individual becomes dear to the readers heart after a few paragraphs.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

I can't pick out any, they were all enjoyable.

Any additional comments?

A very gentle book, everyday conflicts taken overseas to make a great read.

Better than the film

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I didn't think I'd like this book because I thought the film was bilge, but the film bears little resemblance to the book. Good narration.

Much better than the film

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
So much better than the film. More depth to the story and more pathos. A really good listen.

Better than the film

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you listen to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel again? Why?

Not sure I would listen to this again, but I would read the book again. It's a great story, full of humour, believable, likeable characters and themes that affect us all - old age, family relationships, inter-generational conflicts, racism, ideas of home, what we want out of life. But it's done with a light touch and is very well paced. The trouble with the audio is that Nina Wadia just doesn't quite get the narration right. She's pretty good on different voices for the dialogue, but she mangles the meaning of the non-dialogue parts and that makes it difficult sometimes to follow what's going on. Did she practice this before she read it? Sometimes it sounds like she's just picked the book up and started reading without any preparation!

Great story, so-so narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
While I did enjoy the book, it is more comprehensive in its back stories of all the characters, I have to be honest and say I enjoyed the films more. The film has played around with the story somewhat but I think the characters in the film were more likeable.

I Preferred the film

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I read this having already seen the film, and although there were many differences I thoroughly enjoyed it. The film was obviously adapted to allow for length and general acceptance, but the original in book form added pathos to the story.
I loved the characters, and the whole concept of a retirement home being set in India. A really good read, eliciting sympathy joy and laughter. Lovely!!

A lovely tale

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
What a wonderful collection of old people are assembled by Deborah Moggach who are not being ripped off by the eager young Indian entrepreneur who has a surprising caring nature. They follow their paths that are, one feels, already laid down by their history to date and meet with well deserved ends. Delightful and thought provoking

Old India in post raj days

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I'm not sure why they bothered to release this book with the film cover and title. For one thing the plot differences are huge and for another the hotel in the book isn't even called the Exotic Marigold Hotel. Nevertheless I enjoyed the quirky cast of characters and the snapshots of their lives although I did feel the end was a little rushed.

An enjoyable read but not like the film

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews