Old Bakery Books.co.uk

In 1950s Bengal, Henna Rub, a precocious, wayward teenager, brings off a brilliant marriage to a wealthy romantic, Ricky Karim, trapping him with a web of lies that she has spun with her wheeler-dealer father. And so on his wedding night, believing himself married to an educated, sonnet-reading, tennis-playing soul mate, Ricky is horrified to discover that his new bride is in fact a lazy, illiterate, shopkeeper's daughter. As Ricky and Henna uneasily tolerate their loveless marriage of convenience, the way is paved for a future of double-lives and complicit deception - an unspoken family tradition that is inherited by their daughter Shona, who elopes with her secret love to live above a subcontinental sweetshop in 1980s South London. But two decades later, with her own children grown, it is Shona who is forced to discover unpalatable truths about her loved ones, and come to terms with the lies which superficially hold the three generations of her family together ...and which are really keeping them apart.

Shortlisted for The Orange Award for New Writers 2007

Metro
'Farooki's fluid style and well-realised protagonists make this a
light and amusing read.'

Publishing News
'A major fiction debut'

Easy Living
'explores complex and sensitive issues of ethnic difference, the
values of family and attitudes to relationships...enlightening and tender'

Bella
'A funny and moving debut'

Bella
'A funny and moving debut.'

She
'Has the right blend of laughter and tears, a Brit-Asian crossover
worth putting your feet up for.'

Easy Living
'Combining the cultural heritage of Monica Ali's 'Brick Lane' with
the intimate humour of family ife in Roddy Doyle's novels.'

Lovereading.com
'This is a brilliant first novel; perceptive, colourful and a joy
to read.'

Sunday Telegraph
'By turns witty, thought-provoking, sad and uplifting.'