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.
