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A review by millypip
The Friendly Ones by Philip Hensher
5.0
When retired doctor and soon-to-be-widower Hilary Spinster hovers over fence under the pretence of some gardening, his Bangladeshi neighbours, the Sharifullahs, watch him with hesitant patience. But when he leaps over the fence to save their young son it forms the first strands of a bond between the two families that will connect them over the next 40 years.
The Spinsters are small, unknowingly self absorbed and disappointed in themselves and each other. The Sharifullahs present themselves with the outwards nobility of all immigrant families in slightly PC 21st century novels. Their pasts, and attempts to navigate the stormy world of today, make a tapestry of stories that are woven together with the swooping arc of family saga.
The English chapters and charming, easy to read and vaguely Victorian in tone and pace. The Bangladeshi chapters fiery and gripping. Despite a slightly self congratulatory overtone this story is deeply affecting.
The Spinsters are small, unknowingly self absorbed and disappointed in themselves and each other. The Sharifullahs present themselves with the outwards nobility of all immigrant families in slightly PC 21st century novels. Their pasts, and attempts to navigate the stormy world of today, make a tapestry of stories that are woven together with the swooping arc of family saga.
The English chapters and charming, easy to read and vaguely Victorian in tone and pace. The Bangladeshi chapters fiery and gripping. Despite a slightly self congratulatory overtone this story is deeply affecting.