Book Review: Brick Lane

In light of the July 7 London bombings I read this book because I wanted to have a perspective into the life of Muslims in Great Britain. Monica Ali makes a provocative and rewarding leap in her first novel about Nazneen a young Bangladeshi woman who comes to England to marry Chanu, an older man of questionable intelligence. Throughout the book Nazneen comes to terms with her racial, gender and religious identities as a Muslim woman in comtemporary London. One can see the gap between the younger, second generation Bangladeshis, who want to shake up the racist, elistist system and while the older immigrant generation don't want to rock the boat. Feminism is also plays a major role in the novel and all the female characters try to reconcile Islam and Eastern traditions with Western realities. The time span of the book revolves around before and after the 9/11 tragedies and Ali does a wonderful job how each character reacts. This is a great book about a group of people who are still misunderstood in the post September 11/July 7 era.