Brick Lane.

About Brick Lane

Brick Lane is Monica Ali's 2003 novel named after the London street of the same name. It follows the life of Nazneen, a Bangladeshi woman who moves to London at the age of 18 to marry an older man, Chanu. They live in London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At first, Nazneen's English only consists of sorry and thank you; the novel explores her life and adaptations in the community, as well as the character of Chanu, and their larger ethnic community. An additional narrative strand covers the experiences of Nazneen's sister, Hasina, through the device of her correspondence. After Chanu loses his job, he brings Nazneen a sewing machine which she uses to sew different clothing items brought to her by Chanu. When Chanu gets a job as a taxi driver, a new man named Karim begins to bring Nazneen clothes to sew. Nazneen falls in love with Karim because he is the opposite of Chanu. Nazneen begins an affair with Karim that starts with her attending the youth group he runs. After a while Nazneen becomes very stressed with trying to balance keeping a calm household and the guilt she feels from having the affair.