I simply loved this book! The characters , the story line, the plot, all of it absolutely wonderful! Keeps you thinking even after you have finished the book and leaves you wanting for more! Highly recommended!

A book of the life of an immigrant Hashim newly married leaves Pakistan to come to Manchester U.K. This book is a eye open read of the life of immigrants how they adjust how they live far from their country their family.A book I was drawn into beautifully written engaging Involving a book I will be recommending highly.#netgalley#johnmurraypress.

I really enjoyed this book which spans several decades and several generations of a family. Hashim moves to Manchester from East Pakistan. He is greeted by his cousin Rofikul. his plan is to only stay five years to send money back home to his family. But once he brings his wife over, life has other plans.
Well-written, this story is both moving and warming. It tells the tale of immigration, adapting to new ways of life, dealing with racism, familial love and hopes and tensions.
I enjoyed every second of it.

I initially believed this to be an actual family story. Turns out it’s not but is obviously based on a mix of people with their real experiences apparent. The story is told in really straightforward prose which is simple but a pleasure to read. What a tale. I am someone whose background could not have been more different from the characters in the book so I found their backstories fascinating and exotic yet strangely not so different to those of my own family members of the same generation.
The story moves through the years detailing the lives of the characters. They are realistically described with flaws and weaknesses and the years move on seamlessly.
I loved the book. Please read

Hashim & Family, Shahnaz Ahsan

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Historical Fiction

Amazing when your childhood years are considered history, way to age me ;-) However it was that sense of having lived through the time that made this book feel so real to me. Its horribly accurate in the casual racism of the day, that was just accepted by both sides. A few people railed against it but to what purpose, when there were not going to be huge changes.
I remember back in the early seventies when I met my husband, how difficult it was to find somewhere to live, to find employment simply because his surname Zelos indicated a foreigner, and back then there was no legislation against discrimination. We'd go to ask about a flat and it would go well until names were mentioned, and then suddenly it was just a straight No. Actually Charles looked more English that me, I've dark brown hair and eyes and always have a tanned skin appearance while he, the half Greek, was a typical English burns-easily skin, light hair, light eyes.
It was that familiarity with events that made this a bittersweet read. Even when we as a nation needed workers, exhorted people to come here to live and work we still considered them “lesser”, still didn't exactly welcome them. Pretty shameful eh?

I loved the characters, Hashim, such a solid, reliable, dutiful man who adores his wife, she's a conundrum, married very young but with a fierce intelligence and drive, and that worked well for her and Hashim. They were perfect for each other. And yet life still throws in horrors and sadness.
Rofikul, Hashim's cousin, had been in Britain for a while and seemed to have fully immersed himself in the life here, even having an Irish girlfriend. Helen had a hard childhood and escaped as soon as she could, and after she saw the boys being beaten in a racist attack she comes to their aid, and she and Rofikul begin a relationship. It always feels though that Helen wants more, is defending their love, when her friends look a little askance at her relationship with a “Darkie”, whereas Rofikul doesn't seem to feel the same. I felt he loved Helen, but he was a bit of an adventurer, not a planner but went with the flow, and liked to be ready for the next change. Unlike Hashim who adored his wife, and threw himself into settling here properly, Rofikul just felt different. Then he does something I hated, couldn't forgive.

As well as the boys time in Britain there's a huge chunk where Rofikul is back home in East Pakistan, and though I enjoyed reading about that, it felt somewhat disconnected from the part where they were in Britain. Even there I found it hard to understand Rofikul's actions, I'd have been asking questions but I guess it really is cultural differences.
Overall it felt almost like two books joined by characters. I was really sad at parts of the ending and yet also it felt right, very true to life. Its not a story I'd read again, but is one I enjoyed overall, although I did skim read parts that felt a bit dull to me.

Stars: Three, an interesting reach though at times the book felt a little disconnected in events.

Arc via Netgalley and publishers

PUBLISHER’S DESCRIPTION:

“It is New Year's Eve, 1960. Hashim has left behind his homeland and his bride, Munira, to seek his fortune in England. His cousin and only friend, Rofikul, introduces Hashim to life in Manchester - including Rofikul's girlfriend, Helen. When Munira arrives, the group must learn what it is to be a family.
Over the next twenty years, they make their way in the new country - putting down roots and building a home. But when war breaks out in East Pakistan, the struggle for liberation and the emergence of Bangladesh raises questions about identity, belonging and loyalty.
Hashim & Family is a story of family ties, of migration and of a connection to home, and is the debut of an extraordinary new talent.”


NO SPOILERS

Hashim and Family is not an in-depth, insightful study of the difficulties encountered by immigrants when beginning a new life somewhere unknown - the casual and organised racism, the fear of getting it wrong, of making a mark but being inconspicuous. It is simply the tale of Hashim, who came to Britain in 1961, and the following twenty years. The difficulties faced are written about, as they were, and sadly still are, a part of everyday life, but we are given little insight into the feelings of those involved and I found there to be little empathy for the characters. But this is not “that” book and is by no means the poorer for it.

It is not wordy or crafted but is a quick, easy and enjoyable read. A concise family saga with ups and downs, tears and laughter.

As the daughter of a white English mother and an Asian/Caribbean father, who came this country a few years before this story begins, I was looking forward to reading Ahsan’s debut novel. I did feel, however, that the tales told seemed detached, as if told by a friend of a friend of a friend. Perhaps I am too close to the subject matter to be objective.

Thank you to NetGalley and John Murray Press for the Advanced Reader Copy of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.

This is in many ways a gentle book, yet it is in others a novel that shows brutality and intolerance at their very core. This is a strange wall to straddle but at the very heart of this story, it works. When Hashim comes to England in the 1960’s, he had a clear goal in mind. He plans to stay for no more than five years: to work and send much needed money back home or ‘dish’. It doesn’t occur to him that he might bring his bride to this strange country or that he might make a home and a family of his own in Britain. That’s what happens though and so we are treated to a tale that crosses generations and can perhaps make us question what it is that makes Britain ‘great’.

This is a tale of family; both of blood and that of friendship. A young man comes to England to make something of himself and instead learns much of himself instead. But Hashim and Family is exactly that; it is a novel that interweaves family ties. Some we choose, some are all but forced upon us; some we accept, some we run from. It is a novel that confronts the harsher edges of culture; the rise of nationalism, of those with a different coloured skin feeling afraid to leave their homes alone. Ahsan doesn’t spare us the details of young men beaten and prosecuted simply for the sin of looking different. But they don’t stint on the intricacies of a loving home either. It is a tale of two halves; of inclusion and exclusion, of faith and hard graft, of hatred and forgiveness.

Where it falls down is in the sudden shifts between places. The first time seems natural; you follow Hashim from Bangladesh to England and you stay there for a good thirty percent of the novel. Then you are hammered back to Bangladesh with a character you have little sympathy for, one you barely know by this point. It’s an awkward and bumpy transition, particularly when you are then forced into the wartime politics and atrocities of the time and region. The melding of the two places and cultures is done far more smoothly in the following narratives, but it is that initial culture shock that knocks this down from stunning to very, very good. The story there is powerful, but too much was lost simply because the reader hadn’t had a chance to acclimatise.

You already dislike the character and then suddenly you are thrust into politics that the average English reader has no prior knowledge of. They are important and Ahsan explains them well, but the power is lost. By the time you are made to care again, it is all more or less over. There is huge potential here to become something spectacular and I feel it has been missed by inches. Some scenes will stay with me, haunting in their tragedy and power, but they are scenes. The ‘interlude’ fails to become part of the whole and it really, really deserves to be in exactly that whole. It’s therefore a shame that when you come back to the narrative in England it feels like coming home. It shouldn’t and it doesn’t later. Later both places feel like home and Ahsan comes to the fore with their writing once more.

This is four solid stars and it really could have been five without question. Thanks need to go NetGalley and the publishers for my free copy of this novel. I believe this author can go far and I will definitely look out for further publications.

‘This country, she thought disbelievingly, was full of absurd surprises’.

Shahnaz Ahsan does an incredible job in portraying the emotions of a new immigrant’s discovery of a foreign country. The awe, love, trepidation, fear and excitement was tangible and to be honest, as a migrant myself (in a completely different era and condition), a number of these emotions resonated nostalgically with myself.

You are certainly thrown into the family, and feel a part of the relations right up until the end. Definitely an enjoyable read, and for me, the end probably did the story justice. That far down the line, closure perhaps, was not an option.

Thanks NetGalley and John Murray for a review copy.

The book starts in 1960, with Hashim arriving in the UK from Bangladesh (or East Pakistan, as it then was), in a bid to make a new life and send money home to his family. He is shocked by the cold, the lack of sunshine and the racism he encounters. His cousin Rofikul helps him find his feet and a job. He has left a young wife in Bangladesh, but eventually manages to bring her over to Manchester where they make a life for themselves by running a shop (stereotype?). Rofikul marries a local English girl, but abandons her and leaves Manchester when she is about to have a baby. He works in London for a while, then returns to Bangladesh during the fight for independence. The reasons for his abandonment of his English family become clear...
This is a very interesting social history of a time in England when immigrants were often unwelcome and how they coped with their new lives far from their families and homelands. You want to find out how the characters cope with what life throws at them

A story about immigration in the 1960’s is going to appeal to me. That the family are from East Pakistan/Bangladesh is slightly different from my own family, but them moving to a big northern city is highly relatable.

Hashim comes to Manchester to stay with his cousin, Rofikul. Hashim’s wife Munira comes over to stay, while Rofikul dates an Irish white girl, Helen. The novel covers about twenty years of their lives as the family grows and changes.

I know a little of partition and the later birth of Bangladesh and this book does a good job of fictionalising some of the horrors of war. I wish there had been a little more of the racism in the UK, especially with how it is today, but I understand not getting bogged down in those details.

The novel really comes to life with the characters. They’re all well developed complex people and I found myself caring about their lives.

A story of immigration in the 1960s - Hashim comes over from East Pakistan to create a new life in the UK; he starts off in Manchester with his cousin Rofikul, who has made the same journey a few years previous. We follow the story of Hashim as he forges his way, bringing over his new wife, and creating a livelihood and family.

I really enjoyed this - all the characters are well developed and full of life - some to care more for, some less.
The enduring ties of family and homeland are central themes to the story, gripping me all the way through.

Shahnaz Ahsan is definitely a new writer to look out for again in the future.

I couldn't get in to this book, I'm not sure why though. I started to get annoyed with Hashim and couldn't stop.

I really enjoyed this book. Hashim's story is compelling, and he is a great character. The book is well-written, and dealt with issues of immigration and identity in an interesting way.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Hashim arrives in Manchester on New Years Day, shortly after his marriage to Munira. Staying with a cousin, Rofikul we are soon introduced to all of the important characters in this story. A real strength of this book is the characterisation. All of them are well written, rounded and behave exactly as you’d expect.

I wasn’t aware of much of the history around the birth of Bangladesh and this book vividly described some of the atrocities. While difficult to read, it was also fascinating and written with just the right amount of detail.

This story of immigration and acceptance is excellent and I look forward to reading more by Shahnaz Ahsan in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

"He had no intention of staying in England more than five years. Enough time to make money, send it back home, have a house built there and live comfortably. That was the plan. Well. As his wife would tell him years later-plans change." And indeed they do: over the next twenty years (beginning in 1960) Hashim and family set down roots in Manchester and experience the strength and pitfalls of living at the very centre of a morphing community where not every member is comfortable with the changes they see around them. "There were times when Hashim found it difficult to believe that this was his life. He had a job in a factory, a steady income, a wife, and a roof over his head." and there are too many others where issues around identity, belonging and loyalty make for stark and uncomfortable reading.

On the whole, Ahsan has a succinct and pacy writing style that takes the reader directly to the heart of Hashim and family's story; wasting no time as we quickly understand he has come to join his cousin Rofikul leaving his new bride, Munira, "to the mercy of her new bhabi, who puffed and primped, prodded and praised". Nevertheless the narrative is filled with detailed observations about a world that is at once recognisable, but also removed from my own experience.
Often these descriptions are astute and lyrical, for example, "Joy Adam and Helen, then turned to join the throng of people flooding up the steps to the main hall; a tiny, determined figure, fighting not to drown." However, on other occasions, they feel overworked and self-conscious thus interrupting the flow of the text, for example; "The hazy sky behind the cinema was streaked with blush. The queues snaked out of the foyer and back towards the edge of the pavement...groups of confident-seeming office girls with shoes as shiny as their hair" or, "The houses all look the same too: red brick, square and squashed together like ants marching in a row."

What I found most difficult though, was the fluctuating progress through the plot. When war breaks out in East Pakistan, the struggle for liberation and the emergence of Bangladesh draws the narrative away from Manchester, via (a meticulously painted) London, and gets caught up in the political struggles abroad. Though informative, and clearly well researched, I found this frustrating as I wanted the focus to remain on the plight of the central characters. This, combined with the jarring attempts to transfer the Mancunian dialect to the page (for example, "Doing your A-levels and that.") tarnished my overall enjoyment of the book; hampering my desire to pick it up and effecting my overall enjoyment.

My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for sharing an advanced copy with me in return for my honest opinion.

this is a fantastic book that sprawls the narrative of Hashim and his family. in this way, its essentially a bildingsromun, for me at least, and that's a story I love. we get to see the ins and outs of characters and their developments over the years which gives me something to learn from. I definitely recommend this read!

A lovely story intertwining the history of Bangladesh with the reality of being an immigrant in the UK. This book was uncomfortably realistic but a very relevant history to share and be reminded of. I thought the characters were fantastic and I really felt the emotions of them throughout the book.

Thanks for letting me review this book

I have really loved this book. I initially thought I wasn't going to because I felt that the beginning of the book was rather rushed. However I am now extremely glad the author pulled me into the lives of Hashim, and his family so quickly. I've enjoyed every minute I've spent there.

When I was in my late teens I had a friend whose family had fled Dhaka in 1971. He died and I regretted not having asked him more about his time there as an academic. This book enabled me to learn more about what happened during that time. I was also fascinated to read more about the experience of immigrants coming to this country in the 60's and 70's. The description of manchester during this period was excellent.

In all I think this was a brilliant book - probably the best I've read on netgalley and I am very much looking forward to reading more by this author. I will not hesitate to recommend it far and wide

I am surprised to be the first reviewer of this book on netgalley. But perhaps one reason for that might be the absolutely awful cover!!! It really lets the book down.