When Ravi Kapoor, an over-worked 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?' 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.

When Ravi Kapoor, an over-worked 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. These Foolish Things is a brilliant comedy of manners, mixing acute observation with a deeper message about how different cultures cope in the modern world.

Review
“She writes beautifully, as always, and the phrase-making is as good as the characterisation...brilliant” Sunday Telegraph “A delightful novel” Scotsman “These Foolish Things, a kind of less savage version of Kingsley Amis's unbearably funny novel Ending Up. Moggach's prose is markedly more graceful than Agatha Christie's, her moral world is not dissimilar” The Times “It is characterisation at which Moggach excels. Her gift is to perceive and describe our confusions about life-and to write with feeling about the continual quest for love and happiness that is part of the human condition” Sunday Times “Moggach has served us a treat with this novel. Moving, sincere, funny, terrifying in places, it is a truthful view of old age and what it brings” Independent on Sunday

Deborah Moggach is the author of many successful novels including the bestseller Tulip Fever and two collections of short stories. Her screenplays include the film of Pride and Prejudice, which was nominated for a BAFTA. She lives in North London.