Author: Bobby Nayyar
Publisher: Glasshouse Books
Price: £7.99
Review by Andrea Enisuoh
Protest is alive and kicking. With striking images of sprawling tent cities outside St Paul’s Cathedral in London, railing against big business, and students marching over tuition fees, Bobby Nayyar’s debut novel West of no East is timely.
This compact but enlightening novel not only vividly captures the new age of protest but documents it. Also a love story, it reminds us of the cultural and racial prejudices that still thrive in many of our communities.
West of no East is the narrative of modern Sikh Tarsem, who while working as a photo editor for a magazine becomes obsessed with researching a photo essay of the first decade of the 21st century.
Through his research we are reminded of the already iconic images that represent those 10 years: Hurricane Katrina, 7/7 bombings and the fall of the World Trade Centre; events captured best by stark footage that when beamed across the world had more of an impact than any reportage writing ever could.
Tarsem understands the power of an image and how best to capture the power of a protest. While researching the anti-racism protests of the time, one image catches his attention. The image is of Rubina, the first woman he had ever loved.
While reminiscing about his past, Tarsem partially disconnects with the present to deal with the trauma of his wife Anita’s two miscarriages, the recession and cuts to his working hours. Thinking about Rubina and their time together helps him to escape. But the cultural pressures that challenged their relationship in the past are starker in the present. Rubina is a Muslim, something Tarsem always found hard to deal with as a Sikh. The hijab she now wears is another barrier between them.
In the background Tarsem’s relationship with his wife Anita seems doomed. The intervention of both their parents, who revere the caste system over a ‘love marriage’, slow eats away at their lives.
A lot of themes are covered in this book, perhaps too many for 40,000 words. Only a light touch can be applied to the complex topics with much implied rather than explored. I wanted more depth. I wanted the book to be double the size. I needed to know more about the main characters to really engage with their trials and tribulations. I was left not knowing Rubina and Anita well enough. As characters with huge potential I would have loved to have been given more.
These shortcomings are compensated, somewhat, by Nayyar’s lyrical and innovative writing. He is a great new voice to the world of fiction. Something I will not protest about.