Book Review – The Corner Shop

This is the first book I’ve read by the author Babita Sharma. My wife purchased the book online after reading a review elsewhere herself. The Cornershop is Babita’s first book.

The Story

For those who may not be familiar with the cornershop concept, it’s a reference that dates back to the early 1900’s to general stores selling all manner of products. While it may have referred to a shop literally on the corner, it soon became synonymous with the Indian community. Babita Sharma draws on her childhood literally growing up in a shop, or in a house above the shop. It’s a story that many first generation Indians can relate to. Coming over to Britain in the early 60s, having to climatise to the grey weather and bland food, getting a low paid factory job and working all hours. But for the few like Babita’s family, they saw an opportunity in owning their own business, being their own boss. What may have started as a shop selling those spices from back home materialised into successful enterprises fuelling the British economy. In her book, Babita draws on parallels with Margret Thatcher (Maggie), who was the Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990. She too was the daughter of shopkeeper growing up. The book runs with three parallels; (1) Babita’s personal experience as a child of immigrant shopkeepers, watching her parents build a mini-empire which drained them of their own personal time; (2) the success, failures and transitions of cornershops in Britain in the face of an emerging invasion of Indian immigrants; (3) how Maggie relinquishes her roots in favour of the supermarket concept making its way from America to the streets of Britain.

My personal thoughts

When I was around 14years of age my cousin purchased a shop near the Docklands in London. His product line included tobacco, newspapers, magazines, videos (VHS back then), sweets, soft and alcoholic drinks, milk, bread and sugar. From time to time he’d throw in the odd greeting cards and Christmas decorations. Every Sunday he would pick me up around 5am and we would make the 30 minute drive to his shop. By 6.30am I had unloaded the newspapers (Sunday supplements were very heavy), stacked them neatly in the racks under the magazines, popped the loose change in the till and welcomed customers with a smile. All this time my cousin slept upstairs following a Saturday night of partying. I could therefore relate to some of the experiences Babita touched on in her book, the long hours her parents worked and constant trips to the cash and carry to purchase more stock. But what I enjoyed most of all was the importance of the relationship between the shopkeeper and the customer. The shopkeeper would strike a strong bond with the customer over a sustained period of time. The shopkeeper would become the customer’s voice of reason, a last minute saviour of that essential item and a holder of secrets. No large supermarket can ever replicate that relationship, that intimacy. It’s an interesting read which lightly touches on the 3 areas I spoke about earlier, which is OK as this is not supposed to be a lesson in retail history. But I think what is missing is the emotional connection between Babita and her family shop (they had 3 in total). She is proud of her parent’s achievements but it doesn’t touch on how this may have shaped Babita and her two sisters for the future. For there is something deep to be said about the children of shopkeeper owners. But nonetheless, a good first book.

A passage that stuck with me

 

Is setting you apart from the rest of society a sensible way to overcome racial prejudices and social inequality? The question is, should we divide the British people instead of uniting them? To the Labour Party you are a Black Person. To the Conservative Party you are a British Citizen. Vote Conservative and you vote for a more equal, prosperous Britain.

Book Review – The Nickel Boys

This is the first book I’ve read by the author Colson Whitehead. I borrowed this from my local library before total shutdown, part of a pile of books. It was the book cover that attracted me to it in the first instance, it wasn’t under any particular genre section. After some background reading this is Colson’s latest publication (2019), he has written some nine novels to this point.

The Story

The book is presented in three major parts and set in 1960s America. The protagonist of the book is a boy called Elwood Curtis. An African-American who has been brought up by his grandmother after his parents left him as a young child. Elwood spends his early years growing up in Tallahassee, Florida. A bit of research at the time of reading and Tallahassee was at the centre of the civil rights movement. The most prominent incident surrounding the Tallahassee bus boycott.
Elwood works in a store for an Italian shop owner while applying himself in his studies. The time period of the story runs parallel with the deep segregation issues between white and black people. He is aggrieved of the growing tensions and injustice of their predicament and the words of Martin Luther King become a voice of righteousness. But despite everything things are going well for Elwood (in his teens) and he is offered an opportunity to attend some university classes. But fate has other things in store for him. On his way to class he is offered a ride by a man called Rodney driving a ‘brilliant-green ’61 Plymouth Fury’. Heading South they are stopped by a policeman – it turns out the car is stolen, Elwood had no idea.
Elwood is sent to Nickel Academy, a juvenile centre in Florida responsible for reforming both coloured and white kids. In his time there he is subjected to two incidents of severe beatings at the hands of the white guards. Despite this he remains astute to his principles, of keeping his head down and working his way up for an early release. However the treatment he sees of friends in the centre and how nothing is done drives him to make a bold and dangerous decision. Elwood writes a letter which he plans to give to one of the directors who is conducting the yearly site tour. In the letter he spills the truth about the treatment of the officers towards the boys; the abuse and conditions. Does this have dire consequences for Elwood? You’ll have to read it to find out.

My personal thoughts

The way Colson structured the story, alternating between present and past, leads you on so well for the finish. I was truly left shocked but at the same time with a rise smile across my face (can’t spill the beans any further). Reading the epilogue I was amazed to see that Colson got the idea for this book after hearing about real life incidents at Dozier School. A university investigation uncovered some brutal truths about the treatment of kids that attended that reform school. This is a prime example for anyone wishing to write a story, and how something read can trigger pen to paper. Colson carried out some extensive research for this book and it depicted a sub-plot of what was happening at the time in America.
The book is a comfortable read from a language perspective but quite the opposite in terms of subject matter. Colson doesn’t need to describe incidents in any gruesome detail, you as the reader can easily feel the injustice and uneasiness of the situation. We’ve all read publications of some kind, in some form of the racial issues that swamped America way back from the time of the plantations all the way to the 70s. The brave men, women and children who took a stand to make a difference; those that lost their lives. This story is just one example of everything that was wrong about the treatment of non-white people during that long cruel period.
At 211 pages it’s a book you can read cover to cover in a couple of days given how much spare time you have (and we have quite a bit of that at present).

A passage that stuck with me

 

The strap was three feet long with a wooden handle, and they called it Black Beauty…….the leather slapped across the ceiling before it came down on your legs, to tell you it was about to come down, and the bunk springs made noise with each blow.

Book Review – Veronika Decides To Die

Many years ago I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, a wonderfully written book. I had no idea this author had written so many other books. Two years back my sister gifted my younger brother a set of books by Paulo, from which one was Veronika Decides To Die. I’d been eyeing this one up for a while so finally got around to reading it. You’ll notice from my other reviews I don’t give books a rating or of x. But rest assure if it’s made it into my review panel then I recommend the read!

The Protagonist

The protagonist of the story is..yep you guessed it Veronika. It opens with our main character contemplating her demise by taking an overdose and attempting to commit suicide.

Book Review – Some Rain Must Fall (other stories)

I’d visited a local library beginning of February to attend an exhibition (post on that some point soon). Afterwards we browsed different genres of books and this one caught my attention. I’d never heard of the author Michel Faber who is a Dutch-born writer. I’m a huge fan of short stories. There is admiration for writers who can compact a message in something short.

Some Rain Must Fall

This is the main story concerning a teacher who has just joined a school. Not only is she trying to build rapport with the kids, but also trying to navigate them through a horrific incident that beset their previous teacher (won’t give this away).

The Other Stories

There are a total of 15 short stories in this book and I found it a challenging read. Challenging because of the delicate and sometimes dark use of language. The stories all centre around human tragedy of some kind. It’s a stark reminder of the world we live in today and of those often marginalised. At times it was a sad read, dark humour carefully managed like a fragile box.

Favourite story and favourite passage

If I was to pick one story from this book it would be Miss Fatt and Miss Thinne. Miss Fatt was not fat and Miss Thin was not thin. But our disorders and minds can play havoc with us and the story has a sad twist. The short story The Tunnel Of Love has a passage which I really liked.

Falling in love; how does it work? Over the years we gather the odd clue, but nothing adds up. We’d like to think we have a picture of our future partner projected in our mind, all their qualities recorded as if on film, and we just search the planet for that person until we find them, sitting in Cadablanca waiting to be recognised.

If you manage to grab a copy I’m sure you’ll find some of the stories interesting.

Book review – A Tiny Bit Marvellous

A Tiny Bit Marvellous is a debut novel by Dawn French. Quick background – Dawn French is a writer, comedian, producer and director of many things on screen. My first memory of her was the TV hit series French and Saunders. It was a 30 minute show featuring the comedy duo with some great sketches, both super talented.
I’d never picked up a book by Dawn French so when I saw this title at a charity book stall, I scooped it up along with a few other titles.

The Characters

The book is centered on 5 characters belonging to the Battle family:
– Mo (the protagonist)
– Dora (Mo’s teenage daughter)
– Oscar (Mo’s teenage son who has assumed the identity of Oscar Wilde)
– The Pater (reference to Mo’s husband throughout the book, as Oscar calls him)
– Pamela (Mo’s mother)

Summary storyline

The story is about the ‘Battle’ family dealing with their personal demons and causing havoc to each other in the process. It resonates with today’s issues around dysfunctional families i.e. growing teenagers, mid-life crisis, that missing spark in a relationship. The mother of the family, Mo, is nearing her 50th birthday but feels she is loosing control and direction in her own life. Her daughter Dora is on the cusp of her 18th birthday and hates her mum! Oscar (real name Peter) loves both his parents and Dora but his identity crisis is a real challenge for Mo. And then her husband, a man who loves Mo and his family but floats mysteriously through the other characters. I won’t give too much away on this book.

My review on the book

I instantly liked the style of this book. Each chapter is narrated by a different voice, the voice of the characters. But what the author has done is give that voice it’s own personality. When Mo speaks, you know it’s the voice of a woman who has the world on her shoulders trying to rip free. When Dora speaks, she is that teenage girl fighting against the world and her mum, her language speaks those frustrations. Peter, assuming his new personality brings about his poetic and posh sense of speaking. To tell the truth I liked the style so much that I am adopting it for a second book which I have started outlining this month.
The book provides a good reflection on the challenges of raising a family, however it has connotations of middle-class upbringing. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but you can guess the narrative would be different.
You can sense the frustrations of the characters without knowing their backstory. But what I liked the most is the portrayal of Pamela, Mo’s mother as a beacon of hope and reason. Too often we forget the pivotal role grandparents can play in our lives, if only we listen.
I say, go pick up this book and have a read.