When Monica Ali was named one of
Granta'sBest of Young British Novelists in 2003 on the basis of only the manuscript of
Brick Lane, it immediately created a mood of expectation surrounding the novel. The published version went on to win the WH Smith People's Choice Award, and the British Book Awards' Newcomer of the Year, and was shortlisted for the 2003 Booker Prize, the Guardian First Book Awards and the British Book Awards' Literary Fiction Award.
Brick Lane was widely celebrated by literary critics. Nicola Walker, writing for The Age, called the novel an “impressive debut”. Geraldine Bedell, in The Observer, declared it “has everything”. Natasha Walter, writing in The Guardian, argued that the novel lived up to its pre-publication hype. Such reviews praised the novel's subtle
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Citation: Upstone, Sara. "Brick Lane". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 August 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23034, accessed 27 November 2024.]
