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3.0 out of 5 stars
This isn't about endings, it's about beginnings", Mar 7 2009
Focusing on the complexities of human dreams, Farooki's model is a family of varying cultural identities, each adding their own longings, dreams and insecurities to a rich tapestry of contemporary life in London and in a distinctly unglamorous corner shop in a backstreet wasteland behind Hammersmith station. For years this shop has been the home-base of The Khalil family. The patriarch Zaki Khalil once dreamt of an unfettered life free from petty concerns, reminiscences and ambition, and unconcerned about the opinions of family, friends, or strangers. Now amidst the close-clutter of the corner shop, Zaki things of his youthful life in Paris and his dreams of being a Left Back intellectual. A hopeless romantic, Zaki once feel in love with Dhaka, an Indian village beauty who later died in a car accident in Paris When his father turned up insisting that Zaki annul his marriage. life for Zaki suddenly becomes a semi-arranged series of chess pieces, his father's instance that he his corner shop is a straight forward and uncoupling fate. "It's a life of his own one that he had actually chosen, not one that was arranged for me."
Meanwhile, Zaki's teenage grandson Lucky stares at his poster of Star Wars with a mixture of pride and sorrow and hopes that one day he will become a championship soccer player. Convinced that sporting fame is destiny, Lucky comes under the spell of the beautiful but rebellious Portia. Given the role of the keeper of small confidences and unhappy inner thoughts, Lucky is unsure and elated with his new intimacy. The story opens just as Lucky's conflicted mother Delphine chooses to confide in Zaki. Leading a life of privilege and married to Jinin, a swarthy and handsome Bengali with his gleaming cap of neatly cut hair, Delphine questions her commitment to Jinin and to her marriage.
Although Delphine's ambition has been sidelined, she still floats airily through the swish cafés and the smart shops of Knightsbridge wondering what to do with her life. Yet it is through Zaki that the delicate balance of her forlorn life unexpectedly shifts, her discontentment evaporating as she feels both expectant and happy. For it is Zaki, not Jinin who she is most attracted to and she becomes coldly aware that inside of herself that she no longer feels the same towards her husband. Delphine yearns for Zaki "the one that got away, that skipped out of the rat race"
Like an innocent pool reflecting a stormy sky, these characters are unaware of all the trouble that is soon to be unleashed by the choices they make. Even at a young age Lucky seems to be the most grounded as it looks as though he will finally get everything he ever wanted and become a famous footballer; achieving his dream so early in life. His overwhelming passion for Delphine and all the tenderness has always been tempered with caution. A novel that is full of all the different contexts of being human, and all of the permutations and prejudices that go with that, the author offers up the basic question: "Should I stay or should I go?" Farooki certainly captures the basic essence of the Khalil family, their fresh lust for life along with all of their insecurities and self-doubts (and disappointments). The novel is readable and enjoyable, and mostly quite charming, with realistic life-situations and believable dialog with colorful central London acting as a dramatic backdrop to all of the action. Yet somehow Corner Shop never rises above the mediocre or has enough of a gutsy plot even as Delphine is forced to realize where her true priorities lie and Zaki finds a surprising solace in Coco, an errant, red-haired and middle-aged rebel who suddenly sweeps him away to Las Vegas. Lucky and the trail of his courtship with Portia is however, quite lovely throughout, the romance proving to be an effective counterbalance in his efforts to become a respected star of the English soccer field. Mike Leonard March 09.
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