Review of Brick Lane by Monica Ali

*Brick Lane* by Monica Ali (2003). Published by Scribner.

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the reasons why I read, and how I want to consume books in the future. In the past semester, I started going to my local library a lot more, and I stopped buying books as much.

When I did want to add to my physical collection, I tried not to buy new books unless they were academic or trade books that I knew were highly unlikely to appear in a thrift store. My local Goodwills and Savers, thrift store chains in the United States, became places where I frequented often.

It’s Savers where I find the best books for my needs, and I was there when I discovered five books that I was going to pick up in one go. If you buy four books, they give you the lowest priced book for free. So as I picked up four books, I discovered a copy of Brick Lane deep within the depths of the fiction section.

Now, I had never heard of Brick Lane or Monica Ali. But I saw the title Brick Lane and knew immediately where it was set and the gist of what it was going to be about, as I am familiar about the significance of Brick Lane within the Bangladeshi community. I myself am not Bangladeshi, but I have studied Bengali for a bit now.

And that was how I bought the book! I read it pretty quickly after buying it, so here’s my review.

A young woman gets married, and moves from Bangladesh to England in order to be with her older husband.

Our main character in this novel is Nazneen. She was born and raised in her village in Bangladesh, and doesn’t really know any English. However, at the start of the novel, it is time for her to get into an arranged marriage.

It is decided she is going to marry Chanu. Chanu is a man her senior, specifically 20 years older than her, and she has not really met him before their marriage. Worst of all, he almost lives on the other side of the world, as he has been settling in England.

When they are married, it is time for Nazneen to uproot her life in Bangladesh and move into a flat in London with Chanu. England is unlike anything she could have ever expected, and even crossing the street is something that becomes a monumental task for her. Coming from a village environment to a big city in itself is jarring.

So we move into the inner world and journey of Nazneen coming to reconcile with the new world and surroundings she is facing. Although she corresponds with family back home, getting information about how Bangladesh is rapidly changing, Nazneen meets their neighbor, Mrs. Islam, and realizes how shady she is too throughout the course of the novel.

Brick Lane is very much a Bangladeshi neighborhood, and Nazneen is not completely alone with her struggles. She clashes with Chanu in some ways, although she is quite the traditional wife in other ways. I don’t blame her at all though—she has been thrust into such an environment.

To me, one of the more compelling parts of this novel is about tracking how Nazneen shifts over time and becomes comfortable with not only her environment, but herself. She has daughters and raises a family in England, which is a feat in itself, but she also learns to become more assertive slowly but surely.

This happens through an affair Chanu initially has no idea about, and this enriches her inner world so much. Gone is the traditional Muslim wife who has been plucked from the homeland. She’s still true to her faith, but she becomes more true to herself as well.

Overall Thoughts

I’m glad I read this novel, but I do wish it were shorter. There were certain portions of the text that really began to feel like it dragged for me.

While I do enjoy seeing the progression of time and dawdling with the main character as she slowly but surely adjusts to her new life, I wanted to see more editing. This began to feel like a novel from the early 2000s, if that makes sense.

I do think this is such a unique story though, especially as we don’t often get Bangladeshi British perspectives in the English speaking literary world. It’s such a good find in a thrift store.

Go read this one if you haven’t already and are interested in doing so!

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