It was funny to read how some people who had come to Britain as immigrants now consider themselves British and are ready to campaign against the new immigrants.

From the Jews to the latest in the line, the Bangladeshis. Some out of choice, some because they donot have a choice at all.Įast End has a history of having been the place where immigrants have settled and have got absorbed into British Socieity. He discovers the world that immigrants have made their own. And yet, despite the unsavoury characters and the reputation of the place, Hall discovers people and their stories just as any other place in the world.

Living on a street filled with drug peddlers and prostitutes peddling their fare, it was not quite the London to write home about. It was not quite the London he had planned to introduce his fiancee, Anu to. He ends up staying for a little longer than he had planned to. Things don’t quite work as he planned, as most things in life. A place which he hopes is temporary, a place from where he hopes to move from before his Indian born, American fiancee lands in London. He had been priced out of the nicer London areas and the only place he could afford was a tiny, squalid attic, above a Bangladeshi sweatshop in London’s East end – Brick Lane. Returning back he realizes to his dismay that he cannot afford to live in the leafy suburbs of his childhood. Tarquin Hall returns to England after 10 years abroad. The fact that it was non-fiction, set in London’s East End sounded very interesting. The one which caught my eye was not one of the Vish Puri series, but this one- ‘Salaam Brick Lane’. After reading ‘The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken’ by Tarquin Hall, I started checking out the other books by the author.

Brick lane goodreads