1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
I loved this book!, May 3 2010
This review is from: Salaam Brick Lane (Paperback)
I ordered "Salaam Brick Lane" after reading and reviewing Tarquin Hall's new detective novel, "The Case of the Missing Servant". In that book, set in today's Delhi (both old and New), Hall makes modern day India - both high and low - come alive, with his wonderful characters and descriptions of Indian society.
"Salaam" is non-fiction and set in early 2000's London. Hall has returned home to London, after spending much of his life as a wandering journo in India and other East Asia countries. Unable to afford a flat in a more affluent area of London, Hall rents a flat (though more like a pit) in Brick Lane in the East End of London. This area has been the home of many ethnic groups who've emigrated to London as a sort of "first stop" on their way "up" in British society. As each group has abandoned the area, other, poorer, emigrants have taken their place. The East End (right next to the City and near the Isle of Dogs) was heavily bombed during WW2.
Today the area is largely populated by Bengali Muslims (from a certain area in Bengladesh), Indian Hindus, and a scattering of Somalis, Albanians, and other groups from the old Yugoslavia. Rare are the old English "cockneys", who lived in the area until the '70's. What is astounding is the way the Muslims and Hindus seem to get along in the tight confines of the East End.
Hall's year in the East End is written in a non-sensational way. He finds friends among all the ethnic groups and seems totally accepted as a fellow "East Ender". Though the area is fairly poor, most everybody eakes out a living, some in a more "honest" fashion than others. (Lots of things "falling off the backs of trucks" in local stores.) Hall and his girlfriend (now wife) learn a lot in their year in Brick Lane and he explains it all beautifully in his book.
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