Fatima's good fortune - J & G Dryansky

I picked this book up hoping it would be an Amelie-style quirky-but-sweet tale about a kind woman's positive influence on those around her. Alarm bells rang for me when I realised it was co-authored (why does this bother me so much?) and it did indeed fall a bit flat. Mostly it was likeable enough, if a bit obvious and sometimes implausible, but in a few places I felt it crossed a line and strayed into patronising cultural imperialism - was it really necessary for the Tunisian heroine to lose a few pounds and start wearing Western clothing in order to claim her happy ending?