Emigre Journeys

click here for more details, find new or used items	Abdullah Hussein Our price £6.59 (£9.99) New from £1.95 Used from £0.01 Pages: 250 (Paperback) ISBN: 1852426381 Pub: Serpent's Tail Pub date: 2000-05-25 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 459308

Reader Reviews:

A great novel. (0/0 people found this helpful)

Powerful dual narrative, which interleaves the experiences of a middle aged immigrant and his teenage daughter. This book was the basis of Udayan Prasad's acclaimed film Brothers in Trouble, starring Om Puri & Angeline Ball.

Press reviews:

'A wonderful storyteller' Literary Review

`Hussein's unsparing realism makes this a grim, claustrophobic but engrossing story' Sunday Times

`A rich and rewarding work' Scotland on Sunday

'Startlingly authentic' The Guardian

Penetrating and thought-provoking (0/0 people found this helpful)

There are two interleaved narratives in this book - Amir, who leaves rural Pakistan and comes to England in the 1960's, and his daughter Parvin who is brought up in England during the 80's and 90's. The end of Amir's story does not quite link to the beginning of Parvin's story, and this is representative of their thoughts and feelings. Hussein's narrative sucks you into the two characters, both of whom are driven by their feelings of duty, love, and honour but who have built their lives in different environments and who are ultimately incompatible.
During the narrative, which is suprisingly frank and at times gritty, we are introduced to a selection of characters who cope in different ways with immigrant life.
The book is an especially revealing insight into the strains within an immigrant family, and the enclosed and private world of those who feel threatened by the western world.

A book with lot of insight into the plight of immigrants (1/2 people found this helpful)

The book is very well written, only sometimes it is difficult to imagine how much of it is based on facts, especially when it comes to the death of various characters and how their bodies are handled, a frightening thought for the relatives of those who died.

The book obviously has more meaning for those who are immigrants, both legal and illegal, and for those with the same background as the author as there is subtle mention of various cultural facts and implications which an ordinary reader is likely to miss. It is also an eye opener on what goes on in the lives of immigrants and the struggle they go through, particularly those who come to a foreign land with a low level of education, and have to work extra hard to integrate into the society where most do not even understand the difficulties that immigrants face.

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