Best books set in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England

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Reading lists

14 books set in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland

By the bestselling author of LOVE MARRIAGE

Brick Lane

'Ali has an impressive command of her story, but her real gift is in the richness of the lives she has created, populating Nazneen's London with a very entertaining cast of comic characters'

'I was totally gripped by Brick Lane. A brilliant evocation of sensuality which might occur anywhere'

'Written with a wisdom and skill that few authors attain in a lifetime'

'Comedy and poignancy abound...Brick Lane is a wonderful debut'

'Brick Lane has everything: richly complex characters, a gripping story and it's funny too'

'Monica Ali brings humour, grace and the special qualities of the best of Asian fiction to a narrative concerned with acceptance and denial...Wry and intelligent, subtle and graceful in its mix of formal prose, blackly despairing humour and fabulous characterization, this is a rich human novel'

'The kind of novel that surprises one with its depth and dash; it is a novel that will last'

'A wonderful first novel. Ali's writing is stunning, almost poetic at times, and she has a beautifully inventive turn of phrase'

'This highly evolved, accomplished book is a reminder of how exhilarating novels can be: it opened up a world whose contours I could recognize, but which I needed Monica Ali to make me understand'

'Ali's observations of Nazneen, her family and friends, is precise, true and can only emanate out of deep empathy, the quality that gives this first novel its warmth and humour...Ali writes with such confidence and with the kind of control a much more experienced novelist would envy'

'Written with effortless style and amazing aplomb for a first-timer. Believe the hype. Monica Ali really is the Next Big Thing. If you buy only one book this year, make it this one'

'Splendid...Daring...Brilliant...Refreshing...A great achievement of the subtlest storytelling'

'The author's powers of observation are magnificent, placing Ali among Britain's greatest writers, never mind young or old'

'Ali aims for the grandest themes of literature: of love, of individuality, of finding and risking the space to grow, of self-sufficiency, of negotiating co-existence...the biggest surprise about Brick Lane is that it works'

'The joy of this book is its marriage of a wonderful writer with a fresh, rich and hidden world. Her achievement is huge. This is a book written with love and compassion'

Monica Ali was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and grew up in England. She is the author of Untold Story, In The Kitchen and Alentejo Blue. Her Sunday Times bestselling first novel Brick Lane was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the George Orwell Prize for political writing and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and has been made into an acclaimed film. Her latest novel Love Marriage is published by Virago.

***As dramatised on BBC Radio Four*** 
 
SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 
THE SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 
A RICHARD AND JUDY PICK 
 
'Written with a wisdom and skill that few authors attain in a lifetime' SUNDAY TIMES 
 
Still in her teenage years, Nazneen finds herself in an arranged marriage with a disappointed older man. Away from her Bangladeshi village, home is now a cramped flat in a high-rise block in London's East End. Nazneen knows not a word of English, and is forced to depend on her husband. 
 
Confined in her tiny flat, Nazneen sews furiously for a living, shut away with her buttons and linings - until the radical Karim steps unexpectedly into her life. On a background of racial conflict and tension, they embark on a love affair that forces Nazneen finally to take control of her fate. 
 
A GRANTA BEST OF BRITISH YOUNG NOVELIST 
SHORTLISTED FOR THE GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARD 
 
'A brilliant evocation of sensuality' DAILY TELEGRAPH 
'A novel that will last' GUARDIAN 
'Highly evolved and accomplished' OBSERVER 
 
Reader's love for BRICK LANE: 
'Memorable and gripping' ***** 
'The kind of book that changes your perception of the world' ***** 
'This has become a classic and i can see why'***** 
'Funny, sharp and very touching' *****

Untold Story

The astonishing new novel from a brilliant writer

A thoughtful, compassionate and utterly untrashy piece of work. It is also...a suspenseful and gripping read.

A startlingly intelligent, perceptive and entertaining piece of fiction. It's quite brilliant.

Ali's third-person princess is a very convincing and sympathetic figure. The cat-and-mouse play between Lydia and [the paparazzo] Grabowski is extremely skilfully done.

A terrific, clever, multi-layered and subtle book (and let's not forget - hugely entertaining!)

What if Princess Diana hadn't died? 
 
Diana's life and marriage were fairy tale and nightmare. Adored by millions, in her personal life she suffered heartbreak and betrayal. Within a life of privilege, she frequently felt trapped and alone. Constrained by protocol and precedent, she refused to follow the rules. 
 
Untold Story takes the life of the world's most famous woman as a point of departure, examining the past and imagining a future. The fictional princess who is the novel's heroine is at breaking point and, believing that the Establishment is plotting her assassination, she makes an irrevocable decision: to stage her own death and begin a new life under an assumed identity. 
 
After a period of intense upheaval, Lydia (as she is known) settles in small town America and establishes a fragile peace. It is threatened by thoughts of what she has lost: not the glamour and glitz of royalty but that which is most precious - her children. She is, at least, safe in the knowledge - having altered her appearance and ten years after her 'death' - that her secret will never be uncovered. 
 
But then a chance encounter with a member of the paparazzi robs her of that certainty. Will he recognize her? Should she flee or remain calm? Is there anyone she can trust and turn to, or will she inevitably be betrayed? 
 
Untold Story is a novel about family and friendship, intrigue and obsession, the meaning of identity, and the peculiar calamity of fame.

In The Kitchen

The brilliant new novel from the bestselling author of Brick Lane.

A novel of quiet pleasures, with a perplexed hero who always rings true.

Her descriptions of Gabe's disassociated states are excellent...this is an ambitious book from a writer not content to revisit familiar territory...Serious and intelligent.

Ali's strengths lie in a cool authorial distance, and a passion for detail

A compelling story..Ali is second to none when it comes to capturing modes of speech...Monica Ali is shaping up to be a fine novelist

The kitchen of the title is the Imperial Hotel in central London, and Ali's dazzling accounts of its manic goings-on make the chef Anthony Bourdain's gory memoir, Kitchen Confidential, seem as genteel as Fanny Cradock.

A bold novel from an intelligent writer who is determined to explore difficult relationships and uncomfortable conditions in 21st-century Britain.

Ali has chosen a workplace that, though familliar through television shows, remains fascinating, and the kitchen scenes are superb...Ali's prose is often beautiful and there are flashes of Brick Lane's buoyant comedy

Few writers these days can strip characters to their very souls like Ali does

In the Kitchen works best as a novel about work. Ali has done her homework on restaurant kitchens and weaving, and uses both as sustained metaphors for contrasting visions of society: the cohesive social fabric nostalgically remembered by Gabe's father and his peers, and the melting pot of Gabe's kitchen in the contemporary world of deregulated labour.

Ali lulls us into thinking this will be a conventional enough murder mystery. But to the familiar tale of life in the big city spinning out of control, she brings what Orwell called the "power of facing unpleasant facts" dissecting the body politic with acuity and humour - and confronting unpalatable truths about our selfishness and complicity

In The Kitchen shows Ali returning to the tensions, problems and promises of multicultural Britain...The portrayal of the battle-stations camaraderie and the banter of a top-flight kitchen is the great strength of this novel and the source of much of its humour and interest

A fast and fascinating storyteller, sure-footed with plot, pitch-perfect with character, who is also a gimlet-eyed and sharp-tongued political and cultural critic of modern times. Food, love, death, politics, crime, celebrity - all these ingredients are served up by the writer as a fresh and flavoursome literary stir-fy.

Deeply flawed and wildly sympathetic [...] Gabriel Lightfoot is an unforgettable protagonist, his descent into lunacy frighteningly recognizable, individual, profound

Broader storylines are skillfully woven into Gabe's selfish charms. The community of a vanishing textile mill industry in which Gabe grew up is being replaced by multinational and illegal workers, and this naturally works itself into every chapter. But it is the self-destructive Gabe who will keep you turning pages

Ms. Ali brings a lively intelligence to her work, and her account of Gabriel's mental breakdown, set against shifting scenes of London, is vivid and well done

With sometimes sly humor, Ali deftly sheds light on the irony of struggling in a land with abundant opportunities

The author of the famed 2003 novel "Brick Lane" has delivered an entertaining, poignant tale

Dazzingly describes the manic goings-on in the kitchen of a central London hotel

Ali skilfully seasons her stew of a plot ...A cleverly written tale of lust, trafficking and ambition, In the Kitchen has pace and intrigue and a dash of piquant humour.

Monica Ali is one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists of the decade, Newcomer of the Year at the 2004 British Book Awards and has been nominated for most of the major literary prizes in Britain. 
 
Her first novel, Brick Lane, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the George Orwell Prize for political writing and the prestigious Commonwealth Writers' Prize.

At the once-splendid Imperial Hotel, chef Gabriel Lightfoot is trying to run a tight kitchen. But his integrity and his sanity are under constant challenge from an exuberantly multinational staff, a gimlet-eyed hotel management, and business partners with whom he is planning a new venture. Despite the pressure, his hard work looks set to pay off. 
 
Until the discovery of a porter's dead body in the kitchen appears to tip the scales. It is a small death, a lonely death - but it is enough to disturb the tenuous balance of Gabe's life. 
 
In The Kitchen is Monica Ali's stunning follow up to Brick Lane. It is both the portrait of a man pushed to the edge, and a wry and telling look into the melting pot which is our contemporary existence. It confirms Monica Ali not only as a great modern storyteller but also an acute observer of the dramas of modern life.

Alentejo Blue

An evocative tale of belonging and exile by one of Britain's best young novelists.

(Ali is) 'a writer with a keen eye for physical and emotional detail, and a style, mixing the tart with the lyrical which pulls you fast into her chosen world'

(Ali's) 'assured writing and gentle humour are a constant delight'

Compelling, atmospheric and elegantly written

Ali gives us a glimpse into a world that's truly exotic ... brilliantly evocative

Well written and often entertaining .... a perfectly pleasant read

If you're looking for an intelligent holiday read, this has it all

Using luminous, heartfelt language, the award-winning Ali weaves a tapestry of human frailty.

With it's supple prose and acute insights into a wildly mixed bag of characters, Alentejo Blue establishes definitively that Monica Ali is a major literary talent.

Ali writes like a dream.  Every so often you stop mid-sentence to admire the prose.

Her craftsmanship is superb and her descriptions rich with quirky, sad, funny and lovely details.

Ali's writing is winning: hypnotic, substantial, warm.

Monica Ali is one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists of the decade, Newcomer of the Year at the 2004 British Book Awards and has been nominated for most of the major literary prizes in Britain. Her first novel, Brick Lane, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the George Orwell Prize for political writing and the prestigious Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Internationally there has been similar recognition, including, in the United States, the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Los Angeles Times 'First Fiction' Prize, for which the book was shortlisted. 
 
Monica Ali lives in London with her husband and two children, and is working on her next novel.

Alentejo Blue is the story of the Portuguese village of Mamarrosa told through the lives of those who live there and those who are passing through - men and women, children and old people, locals, tourists and expatriates. 
 
For some, such as Teresa, a beautiful, dreamy village girl, it is a place from which to escape; for others - the dysfunctional Potts family - it is a way of running from trouble (but not eluding it). Vasco, a café owner who has never recovered from the death of his American wife, clings to a notion that his years in America make him superior to the other villagers. One English tourist makes Mamarrosa the subject of her fantasy of a new life, while for her compatriots, a young engaged couple, Mamarrosa is where their dreams finally fall apart. 
 
At the book's opening an old man reflects on his long and troubled life in this beautiful and seemingly tranquil setting, and anticipates the return of Marco Afonso Rodrigues, the prodigal son of the village and a symbol of this now fast-changing world. The homecoming is the subject of continuing speculation, and when Marco Afonso Rodrigues does finally appear, villagers, tourists and expatriates are brought together and jealousies, passions and disappointments must inevitably collide.

Monica Ali

Abridged Edition

With carefully adapted text, new illustrations, language practise activities and additional online resources, the Penguin Readers series introduces language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction. 
 
Brick Lane, a Level 6 Reader, is B1+ in the CEFR framework. The longer text is made up of sentences with up to four clauses, introducing future continuous, reported questions, third conditional, was going to and ellipsis. A small number of illustrations support the text. 
 
When Nazneen is 18, she marries a much older man and moves from Bangladesh to England to be with her husband. But Brick Lane in London is very different from Nazneen's village, and she speaks no English. Nazneen must try to look after her family and get used to a new, and very strange, country.

Monica Ali

Books by Monica Ali

Articles featuring Monica Ali

14 books set in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland

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