Today I met up with my friend Phylis she had a day off and we thought we would go and see a chick flick (her words not mine).

Brick Lane is a story of a young asian woman who comes to london when she is just 16 and she marries an older business man that her dad has arranged after her mothers suicide.

The story follows her through her life in Britain over 20 years.  Life is hard in London and she misses her sister who writes to her with tales of love from back home.

The film takes us through life in London after September 11th through the eye of the leading caricature and her husband and children. Looking at the backlash and radicalization of London's Muslim community. 

Having read the book I found the film missed a lot of the emotions that the caricatures go through that for me made me understand the story more. However this is a great film and should be watched with a glass of wine and some chocolate. If however your a book fan then please pick up a copy and read it first.

 

Brick Lane

By Monica Ali

ISBN: 9780552771153

Synopsis (from www.waterstones.com)

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.

Whatever way you want to do this story make sure you catch it soon.

Bear. X