Brick Lane,
by Monica Ali
Monica Ali's Brick Lane is her first novel and
has already generated quite a bit of hype. It is the story of Nazneen, a Bengali
woman who is not much educated and who arrives in London, in an arranged
marriage, as a bride to Chanu, 20 years her senior. In this new environment,
Nazneen is eager to grow up and therefore reacts to the people and the events
that she encounters. The plot tracks the process by which Nazneen moves from
accepting fate to bending it to her will, from shame to tentative self
possession, from a silence both voluntary and culturally conditioned to a yell
of liberation. This is a magnificent study of a repressed woman realizing the
power of her own identity.
The secondary characters are also richly crafted; they could each be the main
character in a novel. The story moves from simple to complex, blending the
personal and domestic with the politics of our times which gives it a more vivid
and believable picture.
You cannot help but get involved in the detailed journey of all the characters.
Truly interesting and engaging! Give it a shot.
-Hoda
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