by Monica Ali
First published 2008
Nazneen arrives in London as a teenage bride, married to Chanu, a man twenty years her senior. The bustling city overwhelms her. She struggles to navigate traffic that moves like monsoon rain. Her neighbor Mrs Islam bullies her with mysterious intentions. She watches her husband grow more naive and disillusioned with each passing day. As a devout Muslim woman, Nazneen accepts her fate without question. She cares for Chanu and raises their daughters. But when a handsome young radical enters her life, everything changes. She begins an affair that awakens desires she never knew existed. Her newfound passion destroys the certainties that once anchored her world. Nazneen must choose between duty and desire, between the life she was given and the life she wants.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, adult-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, forbidden-love
Setting: London
Period: 21st-century
496 pages · Kindle Edition · Transworld Digital
Content warnings: depression, emotional-abuse