The themes are ones we can all relate to – arriving somewhere totally unfamiliar, adapting to a new culture in fits and starts and finally assimilating or ‘belonging’. Now some say the book has not aged well, but I still love it. And Brick Lane itself was starting to become a ‘go to’ street.

I read this book when it first came out in paperback in 2004, I remember at the time that everyone was talking about it. She lives in London with her husband and two children.The Inspiration for this walk: ’Brick Lane’ She is the author of In the Kitchen, Alentejo Blue, and Brick Lane, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Monica Ali's splendid novel is about journeys both external and internal, where the marvelous and the terrifying spiral together.Ĭontributor Bio(s): Ali, Monica: - Monica Ali has been named by Granta as one of the twenty best young British novelists. Yet to her amazement, she begins an affair with a handsome young radical, and her erotic awakening throws her old certainties into chaos. She submits, as she must, to Fate and devotes herself to her husband and daughters. Islam? What is a Hell's Angel? And how must she comfort the na ve and disillusioned Chanu? As a good Muslim girl, Nazneen struggles to not question why things happen. How can she cross the road without being hit by a car (an operation akin to dodging raindrops in the monsoon)? What is the secret of her bullying neighbor Mrs.

A novel that's multi-continental, richly detailed and elegantly crafted.' -Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Sisterland After an arranged marriage to Chanu, a man twenty years older, Nazneen is taken to London, leaving her home and heart in the Bangladeshi village where she was born. A Bangladeshi immigrant in London is torn between the kind, tedious older husband with whom she has an arranged marriage (and children) and the fiery political activist she lusts after. WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD! Click here for our low price guaranteeīinding Type: Paperback - See All Available Formats & EditionsĪnnotation: Now in paperback, Ali's gorgeous first novel is the deeply moving story of one woman, Nazneen, born in a Bangladeshi village and transported to London at age 18 to enter into an arranged marriage.

Author of brick lane