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From Amazon
With its gritty Tower Hamlets setting, this sharply observed contemporary novel about the life of an Asian immigrant girl deals cogently with issues of love, cultural difference and the human spirit. The pre-publicity hype about Brick Lane was precisely the kind to set alarm bells ringing (we've heard it so often before), but, for once, the excitement is fully justified: Monica Ali's debut novel demonstrates that there is a new voice in modern fiction to be reckoned with.
Nazneen is a teenager forced into an arranged marriage with a man considerably older than her--a man whose expectations of life are so low that misery seems to stretch ahead for her. Fearfully leaving the sultry oppression of her Bangladeshi village, Nazneen finds herself cloistered in a small flat in a high-rise block in the East End of London. Because she speaks no English, she is obliged to depend totally on her husband. But it becomes apparent that, of the two, she is the real survivor: more able to deal with the ways of the world, and a better judge of the vagaries of human behaviour. She makes friends with another Asian girl, Razia, who is the conduit to her understanding of the unsettling ways of her new homeland.
This is a novel of genuine insight, with the kind of characterisation that reminds the reader at every turn just what the novel form is capable of. Every character (Nazneen, her disappointed husband and her resourceful friend Razia) is drawn with the complexity that can really only be found in the novel these days. In some ways, the reader is given the same all-encompassing experience as in a Dickens novel: humour and tragedy rub shoulders in a narrative that inexorably grips the reader. Whether or not Monica Ali can follow up this achievement is a question for the future; it's enough to say right now that Brick Lane is an essential read for anyone interested in current British fiction. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
The immigrant world Ali chronicles in this penetrating, unsentimental debut has much in common with Zadie Smith's scrappy, multicultural London, though its sheltered protagonist rarely leaves her rundown East End apartment block where she is surrounded by fellow Bangladeshis. After a brief opening section set in East Pakistan-Nazneen's younger sister, the beautiful Hasina, elopes in a love marriage, and the quiet, plain Nazneen is married off to an older man-Ali begins a meticulous exploration of Nazneen's life in London, where her husband has taken her to live. Chanu fancies himself a frustrated intellectual and continually expounds upon the "tragedy of immigration" to his young wife (and anyone else who will listen), while letters from downtrodden Hasina provide a contrast to his idealized memories of Bangladesh. Nazneen, for her part, leads a relatively circumscribed life as a housewife and mother, and her experience of London in the 1980s and '90s is mostly indirect, through her children (rebellious Shahana and meek Bibi) and her variously assimilated neighbors. The realistic complexity of the characters is quietly stunning: Nazneen shrugs off her passivity at just the right moment, and the supporting cast-Chanu, the ineffectual patriarch; Nazneen's defiant and struggling neighbor, Razia (proud wearer of a Union Jack sweatshirt); and Karim, the foolish young Muslim radical with whom Nazneen eventually has an affair-are all richly drawn. By keeping the focus on their perceptions, Ali comments on larger issues of identity and assimilation without drawing undue attention to the fact, even gracefully working in September 11. Carefully observed and assured, the novel is free of pyrotechnics, its power residing in Ali's unsparing scrutiny of its hapless, hopeful protagonists.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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First Sentence
An hour and forty-five minutes before Nazucen's life began-began as it would proceed for quite some time, that is to say uncertainly-her mother, Rupban, felt an iron fist squeeze her belly. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
An hour and forty-five minutes before Nazucen's life began-began as it would proceed for quite some time, that is to say uncertainly-her mother, Rupban, felt an iron fist squeeze her belly. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Seemed good, but sections are atrocious,
By Zeeshan Hasan (Dhaka, Bangladesh) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Brick Lane: A Novel (Paperback)
The main story, told from the perspective of a Bangladeshi immigrant in London, is wonderfully written. Unfortunately, the other big thread of the narrative is told through the letters of her sister back in Bangladesh, who is supposedly uneducated; and to convey this, the author unwisely chose to have these "letters" written in a horrible, unreadable broken English (it felt almost along the lines of "me tarzan, you jane" at times). These sections were so unreadable, in fact, that I was unable to finish this book. A pity... the London bits are truly beautiful prose, but averaged out to a 3 due to the awful broken English letters.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Brick Lane,
By TJ "BOSS Book Club" (Regina, Saskatchewan Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Brick Lane: A Novel (Paperback)
Although this book was a bit hard to get into, it was worth the effort. There were a lot of names and explanations in the beginning that were a bit hard to get around, but needed to make the story as powerful as it was at the end. It is an empowering book for all women that are locked into `traditions' of all cultures. It made you think about what `you' want to do, not so much as to what you should be doing, and the effects it has on all members of the family, including you and the people around you.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fascinating story,
By Sancho Mahle (Charlotte, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Brick Lane: A Novel (Paperback)
Brick Lane is an amazing story of Nazneen, a Bangladeshi female immigrant who moved to a Bangladesh community in London as a young woman and wife of an old man. Through her, the author successfully captured the Bengali traditions and the clash their contradictions upon the Islamic religion. The misconceptions Bengalis and many other Islamic people have vis-à-vis their religion and culture incompatibilities is vividly portrayed in this book. Hindu practices, traditions and culture are intertwined with Islam to give it a different blend. Nazreen gets married to Chanu through an arranged marriage where she had no choice, thereby cementing her destiny as a housewife. But then the reader soon finds that docile and obedient Nazreen's resigned life is interrupted now and then by her rebellious thoughts, a rebellious side that is unveiled when the path of the attractive radical named Karim crosses he path. This fast paced novel is rich in plot and has a fascinating setting. I highly recommend it along with THE USURPER AND OTHER STORIES.Also recommended: Disciples of Fortune, The Union Moujik, Kaffir Boy
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