Rabina Khan has written that 'Rainbow Hands' should not
be compared with Monica
Ali's Brick Lane,
one of the most celebrated debuts of the year, despite the fact that both
novels are set in the Bangladeshi community in Tower Hamlets. There are
inevitably similarities between the two novels due to this, as they both share
the same universe, some of which are detailed below. I think what Rabina
Khan meant was that Brick Lane is the more obviously 'literary' of the two
novels. However, Chanu's literary education in Brick Lane has not
actually accrued any measurable material benefit for him, for like Mr Ali in
Rainbow Hands, he ends up as a mini cab driver.
There are literary aspects to
Rabina Khan's novel too, such as the intriguing quote from a Bengali marriage
poem on page 83, and the reference to some fascinating stories from history
(although some of these 'facts', as employed by the Nation for White British
People, are very dubious). In some ways, Rabina Khan has been much more
daring than Monica Ali, especially in her liberal use of ancient Anglo Saxon at
times of stress for her characters. And although we do get to read the
Lion Hearts' racist views in Brick Lane, this organisation always remains
shadowy and ultimately fades away. In Rainbow Hands, it is the militant
wing of the Nation for White British People, SWAT ('Superior White Active
Threat'), who trash Brick Lane, rather than a Bangladeshi group such as the
Bengal Tigers do in Brick Lane. Rabina Khan does not simply set out to
attack the racist organisations in our midst - they are far too easy a target -
but to tackle the complex issues raised by living in a multiracial
society. She does this by focusing on two families: one of Bangladeshi
origins, and the other from the old East End. The novel starts off
with the Ali family moving in next door to the aged Mrs Peters. They have
purchased the flat that belonged to Mrs Peters' recently departed friend
Vera. Mrs Peters is therefore feeling a tad more lonely than of late, yet
she cannot bring herself to say hello to her new neighbours, as she has never
been on friendly terms with anyone who isn't white. The Alis, for their
part, have had many negative experiences in the past with their white
neighbours. Mr Ali secretly fears that Mrs Peters will make the usual
complaints about noise and cooking smells.
The Alis' young daughter, Ayesha, does
not care about any of these concerns. She is very loquacious, and will
talk to anyone. However, she does recognise that her siblings do not want
her to pester them all the time, so Ayesha decides that she needs a new outlet
for her curious nature, and settles on Mrs Peters, having recognised a faint
hint of a smile from her older neighbour when she first moved in.
Despite Mrs Peters initial reluctance to engage in conversation, the angelic
Ayesha soon wins her over, and it's not long before Mrs Peters is also on
speaking terms with the rest of the Ali family. There is Yusuf, the
oldest son, well on his way to being a doctor, Hamzra, who plans to make a lot
of money from the stock exchange when he starts work, and Shazia, Ayesha's
somewhat combative older sister. Mrs Peters also has had four children,
now into their middle ages: Vivien, Susan, David, and Graham. Mrs Peters
is most keen to show off her new friends to Vivien, as she has the most liberal
outlook on life of any of the Peters, and has also has a passion for world
travel. Susan and David are not quite so sure what to make of their mother's
new neighbours, but Graham has little doubts about his views, which are very
reactionary and which have also never been discouraged by his mother - until
now. The Peters family are divided in their approach to their mother's
new friends, and it is with a sigh of inevitability that Shazia thinks
"Oh, here we go, the Paki inquisition has begun" p. 67. Rabina
Khan very skilfully points out that issues that affect the current Bangladeshi
community in Tower Hamlets are not totally dissimilar from ones that have
previously affected Mrs Peters' generation, such as overcrowding, poor access
to sanitation, arranged marriages, and the closure of the East End docks
etc. Rabina Khan is careful to point out the problems that the
Bangladeshi community has with gangs and drugs (Mrs Peters has previously been
the victim of a robbery attempt by a Bangladeshi youth, and the Ali family do
fear that another such youth has attacked her in her home). There are
also more positive aspects to the plot, such as a couple of possible
romances. The intriguing plot is also very strong, and this does make you
want to read the concluding second volume, to find out what happens in the
election and to the various characters.
However, what does let this novel down
is that it still feels very much like a first draft. For instance, on
page 146, the author writes "nothing on that scale had happened since
Oswald Mosley took his black shirts to Cable Street in the summer of
1978". This date is a fairly obvious typo, especially since the
correct date for the Battle of Cable Street is mentioned earlier on in the
book. Then again, even novels produced by the big publishing houses have
such typos too. Yet there are other passages that could have benefited
from being tidied up, such as the following:
English was a foreign language and the whole way of life,
with its modern technology, was a stark contrast to the way of life in rural
areas in developing countries. Yusuf had been astonished to find how easy
it was to access a phone, TV, fridge and iron and his mother had to learn to
use a cooker. It was a new way of life for him... Chapter One page
4.
The repetition of 'way of life' here jars and does not
read well, and some variety would have made the page more vibrant. In
Chapter Two, page 20, Rabina Khan writes: "Arthur worked in the docks and
Beryl got a job in a bakery". On the opposite page, she writes,
"He got a job in the Royal Docks and Beryl got a job in a
bakery...". Again, this unnecessary repetition could have been avoided,
and some of the detail in the novel could have been excised for not
contributing to the plot. This is, after all, a two volume novel with
plenty of room. It seems as though Rabina Khan has got so carried away
with the 'getting to the end' that she has not devoted enough time to rewrite
the book. Rewriting does sometimes appear to be a pointless exercise and
an awesome task to behold, yet I know from my own experience that
taking some time away from a book, and then returning to do a rewrite with a fresh
eye, can work wonders and produce a more polished text. Yet still the
strong plot and characters drive you, and you are eager to seek out the
sequel. I must say here that I thought the cover design by Abdul Azim was
a brilliant piece of work, and would not look out of place fronting a book from
one of the major publishing houses. So, if you're looking for an upfront
and forthright companion to Brick Lane, then you cannot go far wrong by reading
Rainbow Hands.
Authortrek
Rating: 6/10
There now follows a series of links about this book:
"Ayesha knew about her twin brother and sometimes
she felt guilty that she was alive and he was dead. But her mother told
her it was Allah's will for him to die and for her to live and it was not her
fault" - Chapter One p. 13 - infant mortality also features in Brick Lane,
with the events concerning Raquib's illness. Nazneen's chances of
survival as a child are famously left to Fate rather than Allah
a stevedore - Chapter Two p. 22 - is a dockworker
who loads and unloads ships
"Enoch Powell's politically well-timed 'Rivers of
Blood' speech" - Chapter Two p. 23 - Enoch Powell was expelled from the
Conservative Shadow cabinet after making this speech. He was also deeply
opposed to the European Economic Community, so much so that he urged the
electorate to vote Labour in 1974
"the older women were always chewing some sort of leaf
with nuts and making their mouths red" - Chapter Two p. 24 - this is
a reference to the betel nut, a popular stimulant in Bangladesh. The
betel nut can produce a saliva that is brick-red in colour
"'I work as a mini cab driver'" - Chapter Three
p. 37 - Chanu, despite all his literary education in Brick Lane, also ends
up as a mini cab driver like Mr Ali. Getting a literary degree is not an
aid to fame and fortune, as I can testify myself
"Bangladesh had been born in 1971 but so many had
died for their freedom as many atrocities had been committed against women,
children and innocent people by the Pakistani army" - Chapter Three p. 43
- here are a few websites documenting such aatrocities: Genocide
in Bangladesh 1971, Time
Line of Bangladesh 1971, The
Bengali Genocide
"Now, our daughter you go,
From the castle of your father's love,
From the garden of your mother's tenderness,
To start a new beginning in,
The haven of your husband's home,
Forever to become apart from us" - Chapter Six p. 83
- looks to be a Bangladeshi wedding song
"When two races of men meet, they act precisely like
two species of animals. They fight each other, eat each other..." -
Chapter Seven p. 105 - this quote comes from Darwin's
1839 Notebooks
"Oswald Mosley... a man from our own East End, was a
hero for what he did in 1936" - Chapter Nine p.131 - a reference to
'The Battle of Cable Street'. Mosley had organised a rally of the British
Union of Fascists to intimidate the large Jewish population of the East
End. A whole crowd of anti-fascists turned up, determined to block the
route of the march. Some violence did break out, so the police diverted
the route of the march to prevent any more disorder. The British Union of
Fascists were later banned from marching, so this could not be considered
a success for Mosley. He had previously been both a Conservative and a
Labour MP, and had tried to create a socialist party prior to forming the
British Union of Fascists. The BUF did have support from Lord Rothermere
and The Daily Mail in its early days, but this disintegrated after violence at
a meeting at Olympia in 1934. Mosley's embracement of anti-Semitism, and
his refusal to denounce fascist atrocities on the continent, sped up the BUF's
loss of support
"the Protocols of the Elders of Zion"
- Chapter Nine p.131 - this conspiracy also supposedly involved liberals
and Freemasons in a bid to undermine Christian states. It was later
exposed as a forgery, written by Russian secret police prior to the
revolution. That did not stop Hitler and many others from making capital
out of this obvious piece of anti-Semitism
"We, Graham,
are the Aryan race and we must guard our racial purity" - Chapter
Nine p.131 - the Aryans settled in India and Iran in Prehistoric
times, and were Indo-Europeans from the Caspian Sea area. They
developed a caste system after encountering the much darker-skinned Dravidians,
which forbade them to intermarry with the Dravidians, and which was later
recorded into Sanskrit. Unfortunately, this little local difficulty
was blown up out of proportion by European philologists in the nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries, leading to wild claims that all the main
advances of human civilization had been achieved by Nordic Aryans, whilst other
peoples, such Semites, had a more negative impact. Hitler did not allow
the fact that this theory had been wildly dismissed to prevent him from
using it as the justification for the extermination of the Jewish population of
Europe, along with others, such as the gypsies
"Arthur Balfour, a conservative British Prime
Minister from 1902 to 1906, once told the House of Commons that to think the
races of Africa were equal to the races of people of European descent was an
absurdity" - Chapter Nine p.131 - although in 1917, he also made the
famous Balfour Declaration, pledging British support for the creation of a
Jewish state in Palestine, which Malcolm King probably would not like, if he
knew about it. This was designed to gain Jewish support for the war,
including those in still neutral America. A Jewish state created under
British protection would also have increased British influence in the oil rich
Middle East.
"In 1939, the all white Daughters of the American
Revolution refused to allow the black opera singer Marian Richardson to perform
at their concert hall in Washington DC" - Chapter Nine p.132 -
Malcolm King is wrong here - the name of the opera singer in question was Marian
Anderson
"One never really knew a person until one had walked
with them in their footsteps" - Chapter Nine p.141 - this reminds me
of something that Atticus Finch says towards the end of To Kill a
Mockingbird. We at Authortrek try to understand writers
by walking in their footsteps, albeit virtually
Inshalla - Chapter Ten p. 159 - means
"God
Willing"
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