Brick Lane.BRICK LANE. Monica Ali, 2003. Read by Elizabeth Sastre. 10 cds, 12 hrs. HighBridge Audio. 1-56511-829-4. $36.95. Cardboard; plot, author, reader notes. SA Ali's first novel offers a timely story and an intimate glimpse into the experience of Bengali immigrants to England. The story opens in 1967, when baby girl Nazneen is born prematurely into a village family in Bangla Desh. Grown, she allows herself to be married off to an older man, Chanu, and the two of them settle down to housekeeping in London. The year 2001 comes, and the world has changed. The World Trade Center in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of is destroyed, the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. seems to be lashing out a striking out; also, extravagance. See also: Lashing at the Muslim world The term Muslim world (or Islamic world) has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Muslims, adherents of Islam. This community numbers about 1.5-2 billion people, about one-fourth of the world. , and young Bengali men are joining militant Islamic movements. Nazneen has changed, too--she stops waiting to see what the future will bring, and tries to shape it herself. Ali, herself born in Dhaka and now living in England, has been named by Granta magazine as one of the top 20 young British novelists and Brick Lane was short listed for the prestigious British 2003 Booker Prize Booker Prize, an annual prize of £50,000 (originally £20,000) for a work of fiction by a living British, Irish, or Commonwealth writer. Great Britain's premier literary award, it has been underwritten since 1969 by the British food-distribution company . Reader Sastre alternates between pleasant British tones for the narrative and a variety of accents for the characters. With skill and nuance, she gives the immigrants thick Bengali accents and their children a tough, urban English manner of speaking. Her warmth, energy, compassion for the characters and understanding of the story make for an engaging performance. Helen E. Woodman, Andover, NH |
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