Salaam Brick Lane

by Tarquin Hall

Overview

After ten years living abroad, Tarquin Hall wanted to return to his native London. Lured by his nostalgia for a leafy suburban childhood spent in south-west London, he returned with his Indian-born, American fiance in tow. But, priced out of the housing market, they found themselves living not in a townhouse, oozing Victorian charm, but in a squalid attic above a Bangladeshi sweatshop on London's Brick Lane. A grimy skylight provided the only window on their new world: a filthy, noisy street where drug dealers and prostitutes peddled their wares and tramps urinated on the pavements. At night, traffic lights lit up the ceiling and police sirens wailed into the early hours.

Yet, as Hall got to know Brick Lane, he discovered beneath its unlovely surface an inner world where immigrants and asylum seekers struggle to better themselves and dream of escape. Salaam Brick Lane is a journey of discovery by an outsider in his own native city. It offers an explicit glimpse of the underbelly of London's most infamous quarter, the real-life world of Monica Ali's bestselling novel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780719565564
Publisher:	Hodder
Publication date:	04/01/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.74(d)

About the Author

Tarquin Hall became an under-age journalist at nineteen and spent the next ten years working in Africa, America, Asia and the Middle East. He is the author of Mercenaries, Missionaries and Misfits, an account of his early adventures; and To the Elephant Graveyard: A True Story of the Hunt for a Man-killing Elephant, a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. He is married to the BBC World Service presenter Anu Anand. They live in East London.

Editorial Reviews

'A gem of a book that reveals a hidden world lying right on our doorstep. As the stories unfold, so does our appreciation for Tarquin Hall's acute eye and for the gentle power of his narrative'—Saira Shah, writer and broadcaster

'A thought-provoking read . . . fascinating insights into fractured lives. And Hall's affectionate portrayals of eccentric acquaintances enhance this touching portrait no end'—Metro

'Charming, brilliant, affectionate and quietly impassioned ... it manages to be balanced, humane and life-affirming. I hope it sells out faster than cases of Chalky's "Coat de Roen"'.—Guardian

'Entertaining'—Bookseller

'He brings a sharp eye and a dry humour to his descriptions'—Anthony Sattin, Sunday Times

'Salaam Brick Lane is a compelling journey of discovery by an outsider in his own city and offers an explicit glimpse of this quarter of London'—Traveller

'Tender and harrowing'—The Times

A remarkable cross-section of British society . . . Hall's sympathetic, anecdotal approach is a fine counter to the appalling racism of much current tabloid journalism . . . This is a fine and eloquent book.—What's On UK

Amused and amusing, this is a refreshing addition to the accounts being offered of the area.—Stratford Recorder

Entertaining . . . Hall cannily plays the bewildered public schoolboy to a range of different characters . . . allows us to hear the wonderful patter of the East Enders—Times Literary Supplement

Fascinating and funny—Canterbury, Herne Bay, Whitstable & Faversham Focu

Fascinating and funny—Sunday Times

Forthright and funny—Daily Telegraph

He has a fine ear for the myriad speech patterns of the East End's varied inhabitants.—Daily Mail

I was absolutely riveted. It's funny, enlightening and very moving . . . I'm recommending it to all my friends just because it's such a good read.—Kate Fox, author of Watching the English

Powerful—Kent Messenger

Such a light, playful book and yet with a compelling tow which takes you into the myriad realities of life in the East End of London.—Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

Tarquin Hall is right at the heart of what he writes about . . . Hall's new friends spring brilliantly to life off the page . . . it's hard to imagine a more moving or more telling record of lives on the edge—Caroline Gascoigne, Sunday Times

This is a beautifully written book about a world we ignore except when it makes tabloid headlines.—American

Well-written without mawkish pieties.—Saga Magazine

From the Publisher