Brick Lane: A Novel
by Monica Ali
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Book Summary Information
Author: Monica AliEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2004-05-25
ISBN: 0552775169
Number of pages: 432
Publisher: Scribner
Book Reviews of Brick Lane: A Novel
Book Review: Don't let the [negative] reviews put you off!
Summary: 4 Stars
Although I was obviously attracted to the 'blurb' on the back of the book enough to buy it, 'Brick Lane' then sat on my book case for about a year waiting to be read purely because the reviews put me off. However, I'm glad I got around to it because I enjoyed it.
The first few days of Nazneen's life were touch and go and left her with a story that her children would request again and again. The story of 'How You Were Left To Your Fate'. Brick Lane is the story of how Nazneen grows as a person and is able to take her fate into her own hands.
Nazneen and her sister Hasina were both born in a Bangladeshi village but where Nazneen comes to London after an arranged marriage to Chanu, Hasina at sixteen, elopes to the city of Khulna to marry for love. The story is really about Nazneen but we discover what is happening to Hasina through the letter's she sends from Bangladesh which whilst showing us the parallels in their lives it also creates an excellent way in which the author can move time on a few years.
All the characters were brilliantly described, and really brought the book to life. Even the minor characters weren't skimped on. "...Son Number One wore a round necked peach jumper and a collar of chest hair. The distance between his nostrils and his upper lip were unusually small. As a result he appeared constantly offended. He looked like he was making up insults. And failing."
Surely I wasn't the only reader to try and recreate that face?!! ;-)
Although fictional, real events such as the riots in Oldham and the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon are touched on and it was interesting to see how they effected the Muslim people in Nazneens neighbourhood.
If you are interested in people, how they live and what effects and shapes them...then you'll enjoy this novel.
*****SPOILER*****SPOILER*****SPOILER
Although it was interesting to see Nasneen grow and become more confident I was disappointed that her and Chanu went their separate ways in the end. It was mentioned that there were two kinds of love; "the kind that starts off big and slowly wears away...And the kind that you didn't notice at first, but which adds a little bit to itself everyday" I realise that Chanu had his dream but I felt that he did love Nazneen and that she had grown to love him. So although it was a turning point for her when she took her fate into her own hands and decided to stay in England, it left me feeling a little sad.
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