Ali's parentage is half Bangladeshi and half English. She was brought up in Lancashire and is Oxbridge educated and has no personal links to the Brick Lane area.
Brick Lane is a novel that tells the story of British immigrants and their struggle to assimilate into British culture. Brick Lane is Bangladeshi-British writer Monica Ali's debut novel, for which she was listed as one of the 'Best of Young British Novelists' by Granta magazine in 2003.
Born in Dhaka, in former East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), her Bangladeshi father was a teacher and her English mother a councelor. Ali emigrated to England with her family in 1971 at the age of three. She grew up in Bolton and studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University.
The primary protagonist of the book. As the “Child Who Was Left to Her Fate”—meaning her mother didn't try to save her when she was born premature, but let God decide if she would live or die—Nazneen grows up convinced that it is always best to trust everything to God.
BRICK LANE - Official Trailer - Based on the novel by Monica Ali
Who lived in Brick Lane?
Many Bengali immigrants to Brick Lane were from the Greater Sylhet region of what became Bangladesh. These settlers helped shape Bangladeshi migration to Britain; many families from Beanibazar, Jagannathpur and Bishwanath tend to live in the Brick Lane area though they spread around the London city.
The area is renowned for its vibrancy, offering travellers of all types plenty to do. Possessing a fascinating history, the area is today famous for being home to the Brick Lane food market, top-class Bangladeshi and Indian restaurants (and plenty more international cuisine), vintage shops, and colourful street art.
Where is the setting of Monica Ali and Brick Lane?
Monica Ali and Brick Lane
This is not the first novel to deal with the Bangladeshis in Britain, but it is the first to be narrated from a Bangladeshi woman's perspective. The novel takes place in Tower Hamlet in London.
Brick Lane is a street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It is part of an old area which includes Bethnal Green, Whitechapel, Spitalfields and Petticoat Lane.
Her first novel, Brick Lane (2003), is an epic saga about a Bangladeshi family living in the UK, and explores the British immigrant experience. It was shortlisted for the 2003 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, and made into a film, released in 2007.
Set between 1985 and 2002, the narrative focuses on three main characters all living on an imaginary East End council estate. Nazneen is introduced as the submissive, village, virgin bride sent to London to begin a new life with Chanu, her rotund, older, opinionated husband.
Brick Lane was in existence by the 1500s as a field path in open countryside outside the City of London, east of the boundary of the medieval Augustinian Priory of St Mary Spital, which gave Spitalfields its name. Originally the street took its name from the brick kilns first brought here by early Flemish settlers.
Those that came to London settled in the Brick Lane area and a thriving weaving industry developed. When this declined due to industrialisation in the north of England, the Huguenots moved West, contributing to the large French population in Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham.
This is a neighbourhood historically renowned for its rich cultural diversity. Today, it is identified by the wide range of religious and cultural influences that have contributed to Brick Lane, but by far, the largest population (more than 68%) is that of the Bengali community.
Brick Lane took its name from bricks transported down the street to Whitechapel Road from a kiln at the north end. The kiln was set up to meet the demand for bricks caused by the 1666 Great Fire of London.
Once an area associated with slums and crime, the East End is now known more for its curries and vintage markets than it is for its unsavoury past. It offers locals and tourists alike an eclectic mix of cafes, restaurants and shopping opportunities on almost every street.
It is now more famous for its shops, markets and curry houses; Brick Lane is now a vibrant, safe, but busy place in London. However, it is best to keep your belongings close to you like anywhere else, especially on busy market days.
In 1951 she married Commander Roy Stratton, US Navy, and went to live in Washington, before settling in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, until Roy's death in 1985. Monica created a wonderful family life with two adopted daughters, Prudence and Pamela.
What complexities of diaspora life does nazneen face in London?
Confined within the boundaries of a small apartment in the east end of London, Nazneen is totally dependent on her husband, Chanu, because she speaks no English except 'thank you' and 'sorry' and is not allowed to go out. Gender differences manifest themselves when men and women are accorded different social status.
CITY OF GIRLS BOOK - Beloved author Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love) returns with a unique love story set in the New York City theater world during the 1940s.
From my observations, Brick Lane Vintage's prices range from approximately £10 to £80. Most tops, whether they be for men or women, cost anywhere from £15 to £30. Bottoms cost roughly £40 and accessories between £5 to £20. I purchased earrings for as low as £8 and nearly bought a £10 handbag.
Brick Lane itself is perfectly safe at day and at night (if you're wandering down side streets at night stick to the Commercial Road side, don't go towards the council estate on the other side). It's quite clubby so is busy til late.
Mention Brick Lane and most people think of curry. It's long been a hub for London's Bangladeshi community, which has made it famous for its huge array of authentic curry restaurants.
