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Review by Ceri Oak,
This is a very readable book. To re-read it again, years after its original release has been a pleasure.
The opening pages (see P.16 top paragraph) set the scene for the arc of the whole book: we are told that for Nazneen ‘everything had to be borne. When …at age thirty-four … she could not wait for the future but had to make it for herself, she was as startled by her own agency as an infant who waves a clenched fist and strikes itself upon the eye.’
We are drawn in to Nazneen’s life in the East End immigrant community which is contrasted with her sister, Hasina's struggles and strife to make a living in Bangladesh. Hasina writes letters to Nazneen about horrific events which contrast with Nazneen’s stable family life. Hasina tells of a violent husband, desperate factory work, rape prostitution, acid attacks, environmental disaster and destitution. We read of sweatshops, machine girls, misogyny. Dhaka has ‘plastic bags blowing everywhere’. Women contract aids from ‘straying husbands. Child labour continues in the construction industry. We hear that Hasina’s ‘room’ in the Rashid household is actually a cupboard with a shelf, then even this space is taken over by the cook. Much later, Hasina runs off with the cook but we have the sense that the cook is not gentle or appreciative of Hasina and we continue to worry for her future. She has spent all of her adult life being taken advantage of, by men and women, despite working extremely hard.
This is a very readable book. To re-read it again, years after its original release has been a pleasure.
The opening pages (see P.16 top paragraph) set the scene for the arc of the whole book: we are told that for Nazneen ‘everything had to be borne. When …at age thirty-four … she could not wait for the future but had to make it for herself, she was as startled by her own agency as an infant who waves a clenched fist and strikes itself upon the eye.’
We are drawn in to Nazneen’s life in the East End immigrant community which is contrasted with her sister, Hasina's struggles and strife to make a living in Bangladesh. Hasina writes letters to Nazneen about horrific events which contrast with Nazneen’s stable family life. Hasina tells of a violent husband, desperate factory work, rape prostitution, acid attacks, environmental disaster and destitution. We read of sweatshops, machine girls, misogyny. Dhaka has ‘plastic bags blowing everywhere’. Women contract aids from ‘straying husbands. Child labour continues in the construction industry. We hear that Hasina’s ‘room’ in the Rashid household is actually a cupboard with a shelf, then even this space is taken over by the cook. Much later, Hasina runs off with the cook but we have the sense that the cook is not gentle or appreciative of Hasina and we continue to worry for her future. She has spent all of her adult life being taken advantage of, by men and women, despite working extremely hard.
Meanwhile, Nazneen grows through fortitude - through the death of her son, the trials of being a mother, intervening between her husband and her strong-willed daughter, and managing the disappointments of her husband who craves status and recognition and seems to receive none, time after time. All of Nazneen’s worries about family finances, her husband’s lack of judgement in terms of being a provider, her affair with Karim and the loss of her baby result in her physical and emotional breakdown.
Through her experiences, Nazneen learns wisdom and gains inner strength until she is able to make some huge and weighty decisions and take a stand against the repulsive money-lending family on the housing estate.
The book illustrates how love can grow within an arranged marriage. Chanu and Nazneen show loyalty to each other in tender moments. We find ourselves forgiving Nazneen for her affair with Karim. Chanu, by comparison, can be summarised by p.203 ‘But he was slighted. By customers, by suppliers, by superiors and inferiors. He worked hard for respect but he could not find it. There was in the world a great shortage of respect and Chanu was among the famished.’
The pigeon style of Hasina’s letters is intriguing. It perhaps indicates the difference between Nazneen who has acquired more literacy skills than her sister. The letters would of course have been written in Bengali. Nazneen several times expresses an interest in learning English, but Chanu always dismisses this as being unnecessary. We sense that he may have felt threatened in his role if Nazneen had become fluent in English. Nazneen (and Bengali wives) has been conditioned to accept her fate but her imagination is captured by the image of graceful, skilful ice-skaters Torville and Dean – representing (in a very western way) excitement, confidence, passion and grace. The book neatly ends with her children taking her ice skating as a surprise.
Here are some examples of the deft writing style and humour:
‘Year Off – what is it – Year Off?’
‘Someone had taught the Minah bird a bad word’
‘The image of Britney Spears is painted on the back of rickshaws’
‘Sound like your husband have very good job’
‘The sofa and chairs were the colour of dried cow dung, which was a practical colour’
By p.321, her daughter, Shahana reveals that she can see a way for her parents’ generation to achieve success, but again her father Chanu will not listen. He is stuck on ‘transmit’ most of the time. The first-generation immigrants seem to have a nostalgia for the old Bangladeshi village system including its ‘thrashings’ of family members. The 2nd generation, Shahana’s age, no longer want to go back to Bangladesh, and have very different ideas. Shahana experiences crippling embarrassment about her father, yet within the flat we see some examples when she tries her best to boost the mood of her father – fetching his slippers, holding his book etc.
What a rich feast this book holds! There is so much to talk about and to ponder over. It is a good mix of tragedy and hope.
Through her experiences, Nazneen learns wisdom and gains inner strength until she is able to make some huge and weighty decisions and take a stand against the repulsive money-lending family on the housing estate.
The book illustrates how love can grow within an arranged marriage. Chanu and Nazneen show loyalty to each other in tender moments. We find ourselves forgiving Nazneen for her affair with Karim. Chanu, by comparison, can be summarised by p.203 ‘But he was slighted. By customers, by suppliers, by superiors and inferiors. He worked hard for respect but he could not find it. There was in the world a great shortage of respect and Chanu was among the famished.’
The pigeon style of Hasina’s letters is intriguing. It perhaps indicates the difference between Nazneen who has acquired more literacy skills than her sister. The letters would of course have been written in Bengali. Nazneen several times expresses an interest in learning English, but Chanu always dismisses this as being unnecessary. We sense that he may have felt threatened in his role if Nazneen had become fluent in English. Nazneen (and Bengali wives) has been conditioned to accept her fate but her imagination is captured by the image of graceful, skilful ice-skaters Torville and Dean – representing (in a very western way) excitement, confidence, passion and grace. The book neatly ends with her children taking her ice skating as a surprise.
Here are some examples of the deft writing style and humour:
‘Year Off – what is it – Year Off?’
‘Someone had taught the Minah bird a bad word’
‘The image of Britney Spears is painted on the back of rickshaws’
‘Sound like your husband have very good job’
‘The sofa and chairs were the colour of dried cow dung, which was a practical colour’
By p.321, her daughter, Shahana reveals that she can see a way for her parents’ generation to achieve success, but again her father Chanu will not listen. He is stuck on ‘transmit’ most of the time. The first-generation immigrants seem to have a nostalgia for the old Bangladeshi village system including its ‘thrashings’ of family members. The 2nd generation, Shahana’s age, no longer want to go back to Bangladesh, and have very different ideas. Shahana experiences crippling embarrassment about her father, yet within the flat we see some examples when she tries her best to boost the mood of her father – fetching his slippers, holding his book etc.
What a rich feast this book holds! There is so much to talk about and to ponder over. It is a good mix of tragedy and hope.