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Jul 28, 2013writermala rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
This is the first book I have read about the Bangladeshi community in London and I loved it. Nazneen may be a woman from a village in Bangladesh married to an older educated man, a city man who lives in London, but she adjusts well. The book spins a tale around Nazneen, her family both in London and in Dhaka and how she deals with situations and people in London. Not only is the tale fascinating and informative, it is philosophical too. For example when Nazneen fantasizes about wearing Western Clothes and feels that "for a glorious moment it was clothes, not fate, made her life." Chanu on the other hand is always posing Philosophical questions like, "Is this true? It's a question I like very much. A student of philosophy must inquire all the time." Even the casual conversations between the women can sometimes be very philosophical like when Hanufa and Razia are shooting the breeze about their children. "He does not want to live the life I made for him." "But that is our problem - making lives for our children. They want to make them for themselves. "Yes. They will do that. Even if it kills them." All in all a very well-written book. It is not surprising that it was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.