Kirjahaku

The debut novel from the award-winning screenwriter of Bhaji on the Beach. The story of nine-year-old Meena, growing up in the only Punjabi family in the Black Country mining village of Tollington.

The debut novel from the award-winning screenwriter of 'Bhaji on the Beach'. The story of nine-year-old Meena, growing up in the only Punjabi family in the Black Country mining village of Tollington. Blonde, sassy and rebellious, Anita Rutter is everything nine-year-old Meena wants to be. Growing up in the only Punjabi family in the village, Meena is desperate to break free from her parents. She wants fishfingers and chips, not chapati and dhal; she wants an English Christmas, not her family’s endless Diwali celebrations. And more than anything, she wants Anita to accept her into her gang. But is a friendship with Anita Rutter really everything it seems? A vivid portrait of a British childhood in the 1970s, Anita and Me is a novel rich with humour and compassion – a poignant story of immigration, adolescence and belonging.

Irreverent and moving, Meera Syal's Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee is an evocative story of friendship, marriage, betrayal, and the difficult choices women face. Meera Syal has created an indelible portrait of a close-knit group of Indian women living in London. Caught between two cultures, three childhood friends--Chila, Sunita, and Tania--are expected to revert to being obedient mothers and wives. But their world explodes when Tania makes a documentary, starring Chila and Sunita, about contemporary urban Indian Life. The result is an unforgettable story of friendship from the award-winning author of Anita and Me.

This poignant coming-of-age tale follows Meena, a young girl growing up in the only Punjabi family in a 1970s Black Country mining village. Meena spends her days happily getting into scrapes with the other local children until one day the impossibly cool Anita enters her life. Suddenly Meena knows exactly who she wants to be but is Anita all that she seems? Soon Meena’s world is turned upside down as she is caught between two very different cultures. Anita and Me paints a comic, poignant, compassionate and colourful portrait of village life in the era of flares, power cuts, glam rock, decimalisation and Ted Heath. It has been adapted for the stage by the multi-award-winning Tanika Gupta.

Anita and Me, which has been compared to To Kill a Mockingbird, tells the story of Meena, the daughter of the only Punjabi family in the British village of Tollington. With great warmth and humor, Meera Syal brings to life a quirky, spirited 1960s mining town and creates in her protagonist what the Washington Post calls a "female Huck Finn." The novel follows nine-year-old Meena through a year spiced with pilfered sweets and money, bad words, and compulsive, yet inventive, lies. Anita and Me offers a fresh, sassy look at a childhood caught between two cultures.

Contains a sneak preview of Meera Syal's brand new novel, THE HOUSE OF HIDDEN MOTHERSThereâ??s no such thing as a happy ending , is there â?¦?Sunita - perfect housewife - is married to Akash, but is her marriage what it seems? Chila - warm, loveable - has married with great fanfare the entrepreneur Deepak.

I found it absorbing, witty, joyous and moving�and that�s all I really want from a book!' - JO BRAND'Warm and witty' Sunday Times'The gifted Syal does it again' IndpendentHOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO GET THE LIFE YOU CAN'T HAVE? Shyama, aged forty-eight, has fallen for a younger man.

Structured around those chance remarks that somehow end up changing the course of a life, this is the heartwarming story of multi-award winning writer, actor and comic, Meera Syal. From 'don't sit with your legs apart!' (the despairing cry of Meera's mother and aunties) to 'an Asian comedy show? Are Asians funny?' (the depressing response to the idea that would become Goodness Gracious Me), each chapter reveals a different turning point in Meera's journey - from the serious to the ridiculous. With her trademark warmth and humour, she shares stories from her grandfather's attempts to arrange her marriage, to her working life as an actress and writer, to her journey to motherhood and the changing attitudes towards women she has experienced over her career. Syal also delves into her parents' past, revealing lives deeply affected by the partition of India in 1947 and how that legacy has affected so many of her generation. Touching, compelling and very, very funny, this book shows us the stories that have shaped the life of one of Britain's best-loved comedy legends.