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emily_burchell7's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
katykelly's review
5.0
I saw the title and had to give this a try. Tales of a boy growing up in Wolverhampton? Sold. Born and raised there, only a few years younger than the author. Admittedly I have never been a Sikh, but I was raised with Sikh and Hindu friends and still termed affectionately the 'gori'.
As well as being able to wallow in the local references, I discovered here an honest and moving portrayal of a fairly deprived family struggling with two family members developing schizophrenia and the author's own struggles to open up about his irreligious life and relationships outside of the Sikh faith.
Very open account of Sanghera's family life and very funny. The revelations that Sathnam writes as he discovers them reveal his family history and culture so it's impossible not to learn about Sikhism along the way as well.
For all my Wolverhampton friends especially, but for anyone interested in other cultures as well as mental health, read it!!
As well as being able to wallow in the local references, I discovered here an honest and moving portrayal of a fairly deprived family struggling with two family members developing schizophrenia and the author's own struggles to open up about his irreligious life and relationships outside of the Sikh faith.
Very open account of Sanghera's family life and very funny. The revelations that Sathnam writes as he discovers them reveal his family history and culture so it's impossible not to learn about Sikhism along the way as well.
For all my Wolverhampton friends especially, but for anyone interested in other cultures as well as mental health, read it!!
highlander2006's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
franlouisa_99's review
3.0
Lovely memoir about life and family and the struggles in between this. It was heartfelt and also explored mental health and illness very well!
bookietracey's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
readingwithalex02's review
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
I would have rated this higher if it weren't for how self-absorbed I found the narrator/author. Almost everyone in his life was more interesting than him... his father and sister were grappling with a serious mental illness, his mother was uprooted from her life in India to come to miserable and unfamiliar UK, all while having to deal with the effects of her husbands illness. His mother is a very strong and brave woman, and her story was infinitely more interesting than her son's, yet all Sathnam Sanghera does is talk about himself. I suppose this is a harsh review, considering it's his book and he can write about whatever he wants, but just my opinion. I do like the more informal and conversational writing style he adopts, at least.