num_pages: 493
description: Still in her teenage years, Nazneen finds herself in an arranged marriage with a disappointed man who is twenty years older. Away from the mud and heat of her Bangladeshi village, home is now a cramped flat in a high-rise block in London's East End. Nazneen knows not a word of English, and is forced to depend on her husband. But unlike him she is practical and wise, and befriends a fellow Asian girl Razia, who helps her understand the strange ways of her adopted new British home.Nazneen keeps in touch with her sister Hasina back in the village. But the rebellious Hasina has kicked against cultural tradition and run off in a 'love marriage' with the man of her dreams. When he suddenly turns violent, she is forced into the degrading job of garment girl in a cloth factory.Confined in her flat by tradition and family duty, Nazneen also sews furiously for a living, shut away with her buttons and linings - until the radical Karim steps unexpectedly into her life. On a background of racial conflict and tension, they embark on a love affair that forces Nazneen finally to take control of her fate.Strikingly imagined, gracious and funny, this novel is at once epic and intimate. Exploring the role of Fate in our lives - those who accept it; those who defy it - it traces the extraordinary transformation of an Asian girl, from cautious and shy to bold and dignified woman.
language: English
title: Brick Lane
titlecomplete: Brick Lane
genres: British Literature, Bangladesh, India, Asia, Novels, Literature, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Fiction, Book Club
ratings_count: 32859
places: Bangladesh, London, England
awards: awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Booker Prize, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Orange Prize
category: Fiction Longlist, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Guardian First Book Award, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Orwell Prize, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Audie Award
category: Fiction, Abridged, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: National Book Critics Circle Award
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Kiriyama Prize
category: Fiction
publisher: Black Swan