Review 5: Multicultural

 Ali, Monica. Brick Lane: a Novel. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.

Annotation: An arranged marriage brings a young Bangladeshi woman, Nazeen, to London; exposed to a world unknown she must face the trials and tribulations of the new world.

Justification for Nomination: Monica Ali’s Brick Lane is a splendid novel on the clash of two different worlds. The writing style is lively and vivid. The reader can smell the aroma of spices drifting through the halls, view the cultural rich clutter of an unkempt and overcrowded apartment, and share the confusion and horror that simmer in Brick Lane due to cultural, religious, and racial prejudice.

Each character is carefully crafted and brought to life. Ali peels back the surface layers of Chanu to reveal his inner doubts and disappointments. The secondary characters such as the starchy Dr. Azad, the crafty hypochondriac Mrs. Islam, and the India British born Razia, are depicted with a clever touch. Ali’s main character Nazeen is wonderfully written; you get lost in her struggles and feel her confusion and frustration with the isolation of her life.

Speaking directly to the reader in modest but vividly descriptive prose, Ali recreates the details of Nazneen's life, showing how the superficially trivial choices she begins to make acquire new meanings in her life. Through remarkable details, the reader watches her gradual acceptance of a new culture, while her husband Chanu remains anchored in the traditions of the past. Brick Lane reveals the emotional battles and the subtle changes that happen when an immigrant sees the possibilities inherent in a new culture, radically different from the culture of the past, and begins to embrace it. Page by page, Ali shows just how this progression evolves, producing a pulsating portrayal of a family in transition and of a woman coming into her own. With these details Brick Lane is a remarkable tale of a young lady’s journey into adulthood and the clash of two cultures. The novel captures the thoughts and emotion planted in an immigrant’s journey into a new world.

Genre Category: Multicultural, Coming of age