Helpful Score: 3
The immigrant world of Bangladeshis in 1980s and '90s London is beautifully chronicled in Brick Lane. The protaganist, Nazneen, is the lens through which we meet her hapless but proud husband, watch her daughters grow, and meet neighbors who compete with and support each other.
Brick Lane also depicts the life of Nazneen's beautiful sister, Hasina, whose beauty doesn't save her from a series of demeaning experiences in Bengal.
The realistic complexity of the characters is moving and memorable. Nazneen's slow evolution from teenage bride to independent mother of Westernized daughters is complex; Hasina is also strong, although she clearly has fewer options than Nazneen because she remains in the Bengali society that is more limiting than the London which is right outside Nazneen's neighborhood.
Brick Lane deftly illuminates the conflicts and changes that occur when an immigrant sees the possibilities and risks available in a new culture. Ali made me really care about Nazneen and her sister, as well as about her family and neighbors in their insulated world.
Brick Lane also depicts the life of Nazneen's beautiful sister, Hasina, whose beauty doesn't save her from a series of demeaning experiences in Bengal.
The realistic complexity of the characters is moving and memorable. Nazneen's slow evolution from teenage bride to independent mother of Westernized daughters is complex; Hasina is also strong, although she clearly has fewer options than Nazneen because she remains in the Bengali society that is more limiting than the London which is right outside Nazneen's neighborhood.
Brick Lane deftly illuminates the conflicts and changes that occur when an immigrant sees the possibilities and risks available in a new culture. Ali made me really care about Nazneen and her sister, as well as about her family and neighbors in their insulated world.
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