“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” (Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Sisterland) in this Booker Prize–shortlisted work of literary fiction about the immigrant experience.
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. Her new world in London’s East End is full of mysteries. 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. Islam? What is a Hell's Angel? And how must she comfort the naïve and disillusioned Chanu?
As a good Muslim girl, Nazneen struggles to not question why things happen. She submits, as she must, to Fate and devotes herself to her husband and daughters. Yet to her amazement, she begins an affair with a handsome young political activist, and her erotic awakening throws her old certainties into chaos.
Monica Ali’s splendid novel is about identity, belonging, and journeys both external and internal, where the marvelous and the terrifying spiral together.
