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Anita and Me
Anita and Me , which has been compared to To Kill a Mockingbird , tells the story of Meena, the daughter of the only Punjabi family in the British village of Tollington. With great warmth and humor, Meera Syal brings to life a quirky, spirited 1960s mining town and creates in her protagonist what the Washington Post calls a "female Huck Finn." The novel follows nine-year-old Meena through a year spiced with pilfered sweets and money, bad words, and compulsive, yet inventive, lies. Anita and Me offers a fresh, sassy look at a childhood caught between two cultures.
336 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1997
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About the author
Meera Syal
48 books93 followersMeera Syal MBE (born Feroza Syal 27 June 1961 in Essington, near Wolverhampton) is a British Indian comedienne, writer, playwright, singer, journalist and actress. Her Punjabi-born parents came to Britain from New Delhi, and she has risen to prominence as one of the most UK's best-known Indian personalities. She was awarded the MBE in the New Year's Honours List of 1997.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 201 reviews
November 2, 2017
Funny, entertaining and compelling semi-autobiographical debut novel from Meera Syal (if a little over nostalgic at times).
May 9, 2016
Enjoyable and fun to read. Meena is a flamboyant, colourful character. (No pun intended)
As a (white) child of about the same vintage, I loved the many clever comic touches and the way she brings that period to life. Skinheads, school closures, failed mining villages, comprehensives, the 11+, Enoch Powell, even the unthinking use of the N word to name a dog or describe a colour, it's all very familiar.
For me, the book did a good job of showing that whole experience from a minority viewpoint. We had minority kids in school and were friends with them, in fact it wasn't until much later as a young adult in London that I first realised how difficult it was for non-white families to settle in a society where some accepted you straightaway, some quietly treated you as "different", not British, and some were extremely, even violently, hostile.
My only slight criticism is that the Meena of the book is 10 but her story seems far more suited to a teenager. It's kind of hard to see an older teenage boy falling for a pre-pubescent girl so much younger - or is this just her imagination yet again?
As a (white) child of about the same vintage, I loved the many clever comic touches and the way she brings that period to life. Skinheads, school closures, failed mining villages, comprehensives, the 11+, Enoch Powell, even the unthinking use of the N word to name a dog or describe a colour, it's all very familiar.
For me, the book did a good job of showing that whole experience from a minority viewpoint. We had minority kids in school and were friends with them, in fact it wasn't until much later as a young adult in London that I first realised how difficult it was for non-white families to settle in a society where some accepted you straightaway, some quietly treated you as "different", not British, and some were extremely, even violently, hostile.
My only slight criticism is that the Meena of the book is 10 but her story seems far more suited to a teenager. It's kind of hard to see an older teenage boy falling for a pre-pubescent girl so much younger - or is this just her imagination yet again?
June 12, 2007
This story is of a Desi girl growing up in England in a factory town. One line that made me laugh and identify was when she went to Anita's house and realized that the oven could be used for more than storage of fry pans and such.
July 21, 2015
I have adored Meera Syal for years wherever she has turned up, whether she is being an actress, comedienne, cultural commentator or even being Granny on The Kumars at No. 42. Strangely however, I had never read any of her books until now. Still, a combination of hearing that Anita and Me had made it on to the GCSE syllabus and receiving her new book The House of Hidden Mothers on Netgalley made me decide to find out more. I had always had the idea that this was a memoir but although it does fall into the fiction category, it is plain to see that it comes with a hefty dose of Syal's own personal experiences. The central character, the 'me' of the title, is ten year-old Meena and the reader ambles alongside her as she navigates life as a second-generation Punjabi immigrant in a 1970s mining village near Birmingham.
At first this seemed like a simple fish-out-of-water novel. Meena is the outsider within the village, looking up to her friend Anita and longing to be a 'Tollington wench'. On the other hand, she finds it difficult to live up to her parents' expectations of being the good daughter. Meera has no idea of who she wants to be - she is apparently 'too mouthy, clumsy and scabby' to be Indian but too Indian to be British. Over the course of the book, Meena chases about after Anita, causes mayhem, experiences heartbreaking betrayal and searches for her own sense of self.
There is so much to enjoy here - oddly for a book set in the 1970s, I was reminded of my own childhood. I grew up in the 1990s but have been struck ever since how I was part of the last generation to experience a pre-digital upbringing. During my time as a primary school teacher, I was shocked by how disconnected the children I taught were from the world around them. When I was Meena's age, I was living in a not-that-nice ex-council house with my mother and was never allowed to play out (suspicion lingers that one of the families in the local area burgled our house in 1992). While I cannot relate to the conflict between Meena's Punjabi heritage and her desire to conform with those around her, I do remember that feeling of being the outsider. Finding a place to 'be' is not easy.
The theme of 'home' runs through the book. Meena explains excitedly to her baffled British neighbours the difference between the 'Aunties' and 'Uncles' who visit the house and her true blood relatives back in India and we sense Syal herself poking affectionate fun at her own relatives here as she remarks on how they appear to find nothing strange in immediately inviting newly arrived immigrants home to stay and offering them a copy of 'Situations Vacant'. Yet still, the horror of the conflict which drove Meena's parents from their homeland comes as a shock to their daughter and is a further way in which her experience as the second-generation immigrant contrasts with theirs. However, the end of the novel reveals that a secret other immigrant has lurked in their midst for all this time - an interesting commentary on the evolving nature of multi-cultural Britain.
Meena feels her parents hopes and expectations, their determination that she will pass her Eleven Plus and reward their sacrifice. She knows that although she can shrug off her family's scoldings, to be told off by a white person disgraces the whole Indian nation. Yet still, Meena is seduced by the ersatz glamour of Anita - at least until her world flips and she comes to see the ugly underbelly to her community. The parallels with To Kill A Mockingbird are many and even referenced when Meena gives a copy of it to her friend Robert with the complaint that it was a far too heavy read. Syal herself submitted it to the Cultural Exchange, describing it as the book which first made her understand that racial hatred is more about those who exhibit it rather than those who are targeted by it. Meena's shock at hearing racial abuse in Tollington mirrors Scout Finch's devastation on witnessing Maycomb's dark core but this novel never goes anywhere quite as murky as Mockingbird did. From her grandmother, Meena learns Punjabi, connects with her heritage and finally embraces her roots - but what has truly turned her away from Anita is the glimpse of her former heroine's true viciousness.
In many ways, although race is of course a huge element of the novel, this is more a story about family ties. Meena is surprised to realise that Anita's mother has disappeared, that the mad Cara has been 'taken away', that Robert is gone from her - and so she holds the tighter to her family and to her own true self. The mark Meena leaves on Sam Lowbridge's memory, the truth that she tells to the police - as the novel closes, we have a sense of a girl becoming a young woman and leaving childish things behind. It was a strange thing to read of Meena's decisive forgetting of certain episodes, not because of any wish to airbrush her own history but rather because some events, some people, are not worth remembering. We set some things down and we erase them.
I adored this book - Syal has made a highly fallible but still very engaging heroine in Meena and for all her flaws, I found myself really rooting for her to do the right thing. There is a rueful quality to much of the humour but Syal writes with such self-deprecating wit that even the sadder moments of the novel finish on a happy note. When I worked in a secondary school, I remember helping students write essay plans for their GCSE coursework on Of Mice and Men and while that novel has its redeeming features, I found myself slightly jealous that now Anita and Me has made the syllabus in its stead. I made so many notes on this novel while I was reading it but more than anything, it felt like a book about growing up, about making choices based on one's own conscience and building a version of yourself that you can look at in the mirror without flinching. A novel that will definitely stick in my mind.
At first this seemed like a simple fish-out-of-water novel. Meena is the outsider within the village, looking up to her friend Anita and longing to be a 'Tollington wench'. On the other hand, she finds it difficult to live up to her parents' expectations of being the good daughter. Meera has no idea of who she wants to be - she is apparently 'too mouthy, clumsy and scabby' to be Indian but too Indian to be British. Over the course of the book, Meena chases about after Anita, causes mayhem, experiences heartbreaking betrayal and searches for her own sense of self.
There is so much to enjoy here - oddly for a book set in the 1970s, I was reminded of my own childhood. I grew up in the 1990s but have been struck ever since how I was part of the last generation to experience a pre-digital upbringing. During my time as a primary school teacher, I was shocked by how disconnected the children I taught were from the world around them. When I was Meena's age, I was living in a not-that-nice ex-council house with my mother and was never allowed to play out (suspicion lingers that one of the families in the local area burgled our house in 1992). While I cannot relate to the conflict between Meena's Punjabi heritage and her desire to conform with those around her, I do remember that feeling of being the outsider. Finding a place to 'be' is not easy.
The theme of 'home' runs through the book. Meena explains excitedly to her baffled British neighbours the difference between the 'Aunties' and 'Uncles' who visit the house and her true blood relatives back in India and we sense Syal herself poking affectionate fun at her own relatives here as she remarks on how they appear to find nothing strange in immediately inviting newly arrived immigrants home to stay and offering them a copy of 'Situations Vacant'. Yet still, the horror of the conflict which drove Meena's parents from their homeland comes as a shock to their daughter and is a further way in which her experience as the second-generation immigrant contrasts with theirs. However, the end of the novel reveals that a secret other immigrant has lurked in their midst for all this time - an interesting commentary on the evolving nature of multi-cultural Britain.
Meena feels her parents hopes and expectations, their determination that she will pass her Eleven Plus and reward their sacrifice. She knows that although she can shrug off her family's scoldings, to be told off by a white person disgraces the whole Indian nation. Yet still, Meena is seduced by the ersatz glamour of Anita - at least until her world flips and she comes to see the ugly underbelly to her community. The parallels with To Kill A Mockingbird are many and even referenced when Meena gives a copy of it to her friend Robert with the complaint that it was a far too heavy read. Syal herself submitted it to the Cultural Exchange, describing it as the book which first made her understand that racial hatred is more about those who exhibit it rather than those who are targeted by it. Meena's shock at hearing racial abuse in Tollington mirrors Scout Finch's devastation on witnessing Maycomb's dark core but this novel never goes anywhere quite as murky as Mockingbird did. From her grandmother, Meena learns Punjabi, connects with her heritage and finally embraces her roots - but what has truly turned her away from Anita is the glimpse of her former heroine's true viciousness.
In many ways, although race is of course a huge element of the novel, this is more a story about family ties. Meena is surprised to realise that Anita's mother has disappeared, that the mad Cara has been 'taken away', that Robert is gone from her - and so she holds the tighter to her family and to her own true self. The mark Meena leaves on Sam Lowbridge's memory, the truth that she tells to the police - as the novel closes, we have a sense of a girl becoming a young woman and leaving childish things behind. It was a strange thing to read of Meena's decisive forgetting of certain episodes, not because of any wish to airbrush her own history but rather because some events, some people, are not worth remembering. We set some things down and we erase them.
I adored this book - Syal has made a highly fallible but still very engaging heroine in Meena and for all her flaws, I found myself really rooting for her to do the right thing. There is a rueful quality to much of the humour but Syal writes with such self-deprecating wit that even the sadder moments of the novel finish on a happy note. When I worked in a secondary school, I remember helping students write essay plans for their GCSE coursework on Of Mice and Men and while that novel has its redeeming features, I found myself slightly jealous that now Anita and Me has made the syllabus in its stead. I made so many notes on this novel while I was reading it but more than anything, it felt like a book about growing up, about making choices based on one's own conscience and building a version of yourself that you can look at in the mirror without flinching. A novel that will definitely stick in my mind.
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August 18, 2024
Pre-read:
Started reading this for schoolwork and I’ve barely read any so I’m not sure how I feel abt it yet. I’m gonna be reading it for a while so I hope it grows on me.
Pre-review:
Finally finished this 😩 rtc
Review:
~3 stars
I don’t know how to feel abt this one. Tbh I didn’t really like it but bc I’m working on this for over a year, so I’m in denial. delulu is the solulu. It was just really boring. The perspective was cool, I liked reading abt the mix of Punjabi and British culture.
But I hated all of the characters- like all of them.
Meena was immature (tho that’s kinda the point as it’s a coming of age book) and just plain annoying.
Anita was a horrible influence on Meena and just a really bad person.
Sam Lowbridge was disgusting- he was a 17 year old who had sex with a 13 year old and this kissed a nine nineee year old. Ewwwww.
Nanima was the best character, and she didn’t even speak English 😭
I’m gonna end up rereading this so many damn times for school 😫😒
Started reading this for schoolwork and I’ve barely read any so I’m not sure how I feel abt it yet. I’m gonna be reading it for a while so I hope it grows on me.
Pre-review:
Finally finished this 😩 rtc
Review:
~3 stars
I don’t know how to feel abt this one. Tbh I didn’t really like it but bc I’m working on this for over a year, so I’m in denial. delulu is the solulu. It was just really boring. The perspective was cool, I liked reading abt the mix of Punjabi and British culture.
But I hated all of the characters- like all of them.
Meena was immature (tho that’s kinda the point as it’s a coming of age book) and just plain annoying.
Anita was a horrible influence on Meena and just a really bad person.
Sam Lowbridge was disgusting- he was a 17 year old who had sex with a 13 year old and this kissed a nine nineee year old. Ewwwww.
Nanima was the best character, and she didn’t even speak English 😭
I’m gonna end up rereading this so many damn times for school 😫😒
April 8, 2013
A great read. It often feels like a memoir. Our protagonist is the only Indian family in a backwater English town in the 60's. We meet Meena, the feisty and smart ten year old, who falls under the sway of Anita, a tough piece of work to say the least. Meena goes hot and cold about Anita, but can't escape her bad influence. Threaded throughout are both the relatives (their influence, even those 5000 miles away is always present) and the characters in the village. They provide the picture of a changing England, as well as overt prejudice, selfishness and acts of kindness. Syal creates wonderful characters, particularly Meena, who is not quite mature enough to do the right thing. The book is humorous, and paints an honest portrait of growing up in a culture that never feels like one's own. A good YA choice as well.
May 3, 2021
A classic lesson for me in judging a book by its cover: What I assumed was a Richmal Crompton-style reminiscince of the British landscape turned out to be its opposite, a use of that lens to show Britain's real, ugly and cracked face through the bitter, posturing charade. Stunning.
July 17, 2008
love it. its british, its about culture, and it has a darling protagonist. plus, there are tons of stories interwoven with the actual story. and its funny. why wouldn't you want to read this book?
April 17, 2011
Oh,I loved this book!. The comparison to "To kill a mockingbird" is not misplaced,but the style of writing is different.Anita and Me is hilarious,irreverent,refreshing and poignant all at the same time. This semi-autobiographical book by Meera Syal is about a young immigrant girl growing up in a British mining village in the 60's. Meena (the protagonist) is torn between two cultures: her Punjabi roots and the need to fit into the mainstream Tollington culture. She prefers Fish and Chips to Chappatis and Christmas to Diwali. The narrative is slow ,but is spiced with exceptionally cheeky writing by Meera. Her take on her parent's friends-the uncles and aunties that visit them and her parent's relationship with one another is heart-warming and funny at the same time. The way she describes the neighborhood and her neighbors is chuckle-inducing.
Meena's life changes when Anita walks into her life.Anita is brassy and in-your-face and everything Meena is not.This is precisely what fascinates Meena and she desperately wants to be Anita's friend. Meera expertly paints the relationship between the two girls in not just blacks and whites but in shades of grey. Meena and Anita become the best of friends,despite several undercurrents that run between them and Meena finds herself doing uncharacteristic things like lying and stealing. She knows on some level that Anita is bad influence on her,but continues to toe Anita's line,listening to her whims and fancies.Haven't we all had some fiery friend that was a total opposite to us as our best friends in our lives as some point in time?.Well,I've had and could totally relate to the novel. Though ,I didn't grow up in Tollington in the 60's ,there were so many things in the novel (especially about Indian immigrant behavior) that I was nodding my head vigorously to in agreement
Rest of the story is about what happens between the two girls and other members of their "gang". Meena learns hard lessons in life about love ,friendship ,bereavement and "grows" up in the process.
The narrative is not fast-paced,but it felt like every word in that book was there for a purpose . You can find oodles of witticisms thrown liberally in the book .A must read for anyone who likes witty, coming of age stories. I am so glad i picked this book!. My last book was also a coming of age story (The secret life of bees), which I didn't like too much. This book is feisty and spirited,whereas I found secret life of bees needlessly meandering and(a little) boring.
Anyway,pick up this book- you won't be disappointed.
My rating : 4/5
Meena's life changes when Anita walks into her life.Anita is brassy and in-your-face and everything Meena is not.This is precisely what fascinates Meena and she desperately wants to be Anita's friend. Meera expertly paints the relationship between the two girls in not just blacks and whites but in shades of grey. Meena and Anita become the best of friends,despite several undercurrents that run between them and Meena finds herself doing uncharacteristic things like lying and stealing. She knows on some level that Anita is bad influence on her,but continues to toe Anita's line,listening to her whims and fancies.Haven't we all had some fiery friend that was a total opposite to us as our best friends in our lives as some point in time?.Well,I've had and could totally relate to the novel. Though ,I didn't grow up in Tollington in the 60's ,there were so many things in the novel (especially about Indian immigrant behavior) that I was nodding my head vigorously to in agreement
Rest of the story is about what happens between the two girls and other members of their "gang". Meena learns hard lessons in life about love ,friendship ,bereavement and "grows" up in the process.
The narrative is not fast-paced,but it felt like every word in that book was there for a purpose . You can find oodles of witticisms thrown liberally in the book .A must read for anyone who likes witty, coming of age stories. I am so glad i picked this book!. My last book was also a coming of age story (The secret life of bees), which I didn't like too much. This book is feisty and spirited,whereas I found secret life of bees needlessly meandering and(a little) boring.
Anyway,pick up this book- you won't be disappointed.
My rating : 4/5
May 3, 2021
Honestly a delight to read
December 11, 2018
Anita and Me is Meera Syal's compelling, semi-autobiographical novel about nine-year-old Meena and her struggle to find her subjectivity in the dead English mining village which she calls home. Both Meena and the village Tollington are in a state of transition to greater things in the book.
Growing up in a brown household amongst white people, Meena envisions herself in "blonde hair and lime-green pants", writes to teen magazines about her brown skin predicament, and hangs out with Anita Rutter; the epitome of the sexualised, street-smart teenage daughter of a welfare-dependant family in the 70s. But with the racism characteristic to Thatcherite England making itself known in the form of Sam Lowbridge and his skinhead gang, Meena has to learn to value and defend her cultural identity, and put herself before Anita (who embodies both racism and her identity crisis as a diasporic subject). It takes her a visit from her Punjabi-speaking maternal grandmother, a few broken limbs, a dead boyfriend and the knowledge of the identity of the occupants of the biggest house in Tollington to become comfortable in her skin.
While clearly written for western audiences, the glimpses of the Kumars' Indianness - with emphasis on Mrs. Kumar's colourful peacock-emblazoned sarees and her "soul food", to be eaten with fingers -
punctuated with Syal's genius for casual comedy, makes this book worthwhile. Its portrait of an Indian household abroad makes ample comment on what Homi Bhabha calls the Third Space occupied by the diasporas. Through Meena's bildung, Syal seems to suggest a deeper engagement with parent culture as a solution to the diasporic dilemma of belonging, and in the character of Mr. Turvy we see the post-colonial subject's wet dream - a white man showing regret for colonialism - further exemplifying in the author a love for the homeland characteristic to those who no longer live in it. However, the true hook of the book lies in its climax, because of which alone I would recommending everyone to pick up a copy.
Overall, Anita and Me is an enjoyable read. It also draws many parallels with Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, but Syal's employment of the child narrator proves to be much more refreshing.
Growing up in a brown household amongst white people, Meena envisions herself in "blonde hair and lime-green pants", writes to teen magazines about her brown skin predicament, and hangs out with Anita Rutter; the epitome of the sexualised, street-smart teenage daughter of a welfare-dependant family in the 70s. But with the racism characteristic to Thatcherite England making itself known in the form of Sam Lowbridge and his skinhead gang, Meena has to learn to value and defend her cultural identity, and put herself before Anita (who embodies both racism and her identity crisis as a diasporic subject). It takes her a visit from her Punjabi-speaking maternal grandmother, a few broken limbs, a dead boyfriend and the knowledge of the identity of the occupants of the biggest house in Tollington to become comfortable in her skin.
While clearly written for western audiences, the glimpses of the Kumars' Indianness - with emphasis on Mrs. Kumar's colourful peacock-emblazoned sarees and her "soul food", to be eaten with fingers -
punctuated with Syal's genius for casual comedy, makes this book worthwhile. Its portrait of an Indian household abroad makes ample comment on what Homi Bhabha calls the Third Space occupied by the diasporas. Through Meena's bildung, Syal seems to suggest a deeper engagement with parent culture as a solution to the diasporic dilemma of belonging, and in the character of Mr. Turvy we see the post-colonial subject's wet dream - a white man showing regret for colonialism - further exemplifying in the author a love for the homeland characteristic to those who no longer live in it. However, the true hook of the book lies in its climax, because of which alone I would recommending everyone to pick up a copy.
Overall, Anita and Me is an enjoyable read. It also draws many parallels with Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, but Syal's employment of the child narrator proves to be much more refreshing.
January 9, 2018
I have to say, I became interested in Meera's book after writing my novel 'Winning Ticket'. This is not the place for a plug for my book, save to say that at base, my novel is set in Dudley, in the Black Country and it is about a second generation Sikh and his wife from the Punjab. Eureka! I learned that Meera herself has Sikh Punjabi origins and also hails from a village near to Wolverhampton in the Black Country!
This, I believe, was Meera's first book and she draws generously upon her own experiences of growing up as an Indian girl in a Midland industrial environment. The humour in the book is from her astutely observed (and remembered!) experiences as a young kid, living between the traditional culture of her family and the urban do-as-you-please jungle of post-war Black Country society.
Meera has gone on to great and wonderful things of course, including further novels, TV and Film writing and her well known stage and screen personas. Much of her humour, both then (within this novel) and now, has I think, always been about pointing up the juxtapositions between traditional Indian and traditional British culture.
It's a very interesting read, in terms of understanding what Meera Syal is all about.
This, I believe, was Meera's first book and she draws generously upon her own experiences of growing up as an Indian girl in a Midland industrial environment. The humour in the book is from her astutely observed (and remembered!) experiences as a young kid, living between the traditional culture of her family and the urban do-as-you-please jungle of post-war Black Country society.
Meera has gone on to great and wonderful things of course, including further novels, TV and Film writing and her well known stage and screen personas. Much of her humour, both then (within this novel) and now, has I think, always been about pointing up the juxtapositions between traditional Indian and traditional British culture.
It's a very interesting read, in terms of understanding what Meera Syal is all about.
August 15, 2017
Read this a while ago and realised how relevant it is especially in the context of BREXIT and the racial undertones and overtones so prevalent in the UK today. it also goes a long way in highlighting the way in which the Asian community has become entrenched in the UK with second and third generations of Asians having slowly becoming part-and-parcel of mainstream UK culture. the Balti houses on most High Streets are testimony to that. the book captures the psyche of the diaspora and as a 2nd generation Asian South African one can relate in many ways especially having lived through Apartheid as a child and still living in a country where racism is in many ways entrenched and institutionalised. as second and third generation citizen seeing our country as home it is really difficult to wrap one's head around being viewed and treated as an outsider in one's own country....the experience is not unique to the UK but probably applies to many across the globe...
June 17, 2016
I wanted to love this book, as I really did enjoy Syal's imagery, and interwoven metaphors & similes to describe her observations about her life. There are some truly wonderful pages that ignite one's imagination and give you a sense into the child-like perceptions Syal must have had as a child. Plus, I really did gain an insight into the complexities of Indian relatives and her attempts to reconcile her British and Indian heritage.
Yet I felt sorely disappointed with the book as a whole. There were several reasons for this:
1) Lack of character development
2) Lack of plot and weak narrative
3) Superficial observations - which may have been strengthened if she had a better narrative.
Yet I felt sorely disappointed with the book as a whole. There were several reasons for this:
1) Lack of character development
2) Lack of plot and weak narrative
3) Superficial observations - which may have been strengthened if she had a better narrative.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 6, 2014
mp3
abridged and rather annoying. See that bit in the blurb about being comapared to To Kill a Mockingbird - erm, no.
abridged and rather annoying. See that bit in the blurb about being comapared to To Kill a Mockingbird - erm, no.
April 28, 2013
From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
Meera Syal's story about a young girl growing up in the Black Country during the 1970s.
Meera Syal's story about a young girl growing up in the Black Country during the 1970s.
June 21, 2019
I was absolutely charmed by this gossipy, funny, sometimes dark novel about Meena, part of the only Punjabi family in the village. I loved the peek into another culture, and the presentation of the Aunties and Uncles, the cooking of meals, the clothes, the respect, the importance of family. Although it did become dark, I loved being challenged by how Indian people were seen in Britain in the Sixties, and I was saddened by how the same attitudes are still being shown towards them in these so-called modern days. We haven't come far as a nation, have we? I enjoyed the fact that Meena is shown to belong to both worlds, but neither, but how she comes to accept her unique position by the end of the novel. It was a glorious read and I'm definitely going to be seeking out more from this author.
September 19, 2012
Anita and Me by Meera Syal is actually one of those books where I found out it existed by seeing the film adaptation first. I am sometimes a little weary of reading books after I’ve already seen the film because film adaptations tend to alter somewhat from the novels themselves and I enjoyed the film thoroughly and didn’t want to end up being disappointed with it once I had finished the book.
It has actually been sat on my bookshelf for about three years, never seemingly managing to get around to it; there always seemed to be books I wanted to read more. I’m not that ashamed I left it so long to read, not because the book is bad in any way but at the moment I had the time to actually sit and enjoy the book and take my time with it.
The story of Meena is a funny, sad, addictive page turner that sings of Indian culture all with a Brummie accent. She’s a girl that longs for fish fingers and chips rather than chapattis. At the beginning of the novel we find Meena longing to shed her ‘Indian’ coloured skin and fit in with Anita, the blonde haired ‘wench’ from next door. As we read on however, it is so inspiring to see Meena grow into herself, accept her roots and actually learn to love and appreciate just how different she is. It’s a teenager’s novel at heart, set in the 60’s where working class men are laid off and women are verbally announcing their sexuality to the world.
Syal writes with so much wit and humour that it’s hard not to fall in love with Meena’s voice. She has the exact attitude that makes young adults so funny and unique, but just as quickly; Syal can turn the story on its head and evoke emotion from the reader. It is one of those few novels that includes it all. Love, anger, racism, community, sex, culture, religion are to name but a few.
It can be hard to like central characters that at the beginning lie and steal unashamedly without guilt, but with Meena, you feel for her predicament, being stuck bang in the middle of a society in the midst of a social change, but also stuck in the body she was born with. It is a heart warming tale, one I urge all fans of YA to read. I haven’t read many foreign culture stories before, not because I don’t like them, but just because I am more of a fantasy fan, but it helps to learn more about the Indian culture, despite being set in Tollington via Birmingham.
It has actually been sat on my bookshelf for about three years, never seemingly managing to get around to it; there always seemed to be books I wanted to read more. I’m not that ashamed I left it so long to read, not because the book is bad in any way but at the moment I had the time to actually sit and enjoy the book and take my time with it.
The story of Meena is a funny, sad, addictive page turner that sings of Indian culture all with a Brummie accent. She’s a girl that longs for fish fingers and chips rather than chapattis. At the beginning of the novel we find Meena longing to shed her ‘Indian’ coloured skin and fit in with Anita, the blonde haired ‘wench’ from next door. As we read on however, it is so inspiring to see Meena grow into herself, accept her roots and actually learn to love and appreciate just how different she is. It’s a teenager’s novel at heart, set in the 60’s where working class men are laid off and women are verbally announcing their sexuality to the world.
Syal writes with so much wit and humour that it’s hard not to fall in love with Meena’s voice. She has the exact attitude that makes young adults so funny and unique, but just as quickly; Syal can turn the story on its head and evoke emotion from the reader. It is one of those few novels that includes it all. Love, anger, racism, community, sex, culture, religion are to name but a few.
It can be hard to like central characters that at the beginning lie and steal unashamedly without guilt, but with Meena, you feel for her predicament, being stuck bang in the middle of a society in the midst of a social change, but also stuck in the body she was born with. It is a heart warming tale, one I urge all fans of YA to read. I haven’t read many foreign culture stories before, not because I don’t like them, but just because I am more of a fantasy fan, but it helps to learn more about the Indian culture, despite being set in Tollington via Birmingham.
April 30, 2014
This book is a moving portrayal of growing up in the 70s as a nine year old Indian girl. It touches on personal subjects such as racism, the usual subjects of insecurities, friendships etc and the environmental changes in the day – a motorway being built through the middle of their village.
I like Meera’s moving way with words – talking about her new baby brother - “I disliked him on first sight, a scrawny, yowling thing with a poached egg of a face, his long fingers clinging gekko-like to mama’s nightgown front whilst she held him up to me for a first sister’s kiss. I brushed his cheek sullenly with my mouth, it felt downy and damp, a strange smell of custard and roses made my nostrils twitch and for a second, he stopped crying and looked straight at me with wise old man eyes. The knowledge in them made me step back a moment. He had the face of a travel-weary prodigal, ancient dust and the maps of several continents lay on his brow, he had comet trails in his nappy and sea shells crushed between his toes. He was only a day old and I knew he had already seen places I would only ever dream of.”
Also when she is describing listening to her friend “I would gasp for air and wait enthralled for the next revelation, each one tilting my small world slightly off its axis so I saw the familiar and mundane through new cynical eyes, Anita’s eyes.” She has a way to bring a moment to life.
I also like the way Meera creates the character of Meena from her being a sulky, spoiled little girl and how she grows through experience. A book anyone can relate to if they think back to their own childhood.
I like Meera’s moving way with words – talking about her new baby brother - “I disliked him on first sight, a scrawny, yowling thing with a poached egg of a face, his long fingers clinging gekko-like to mama’s nightgown front whilst she held him up to me for a first sister’s kiss. I brushed his cheek sullenly with my mouth, it felt downy and damp, a strange smell of custard and roses made my nostrils twitch and for a second, he stopped crying and looked straight at me with wise old man eyes. The knowledge in them made me step back a moment. He had the face of a travel-weary prodigal, ancient dust and the maps of several continents lay on his brow, he had comet trails in his nappy and sea shells crushed between his toes. He was only a day old and I knew he had already seen places I would only ever dream of.”
Also when she is describing listening to her friend “I would gasp for air and wait enthralled for the next revelation, each one tilting my small world slightly off its axis so I saw the familiar and mundane through new cynical eyes, Anita’s eyes.” She has a way to bring a moment to life.
I also like the way Meera creates the character of Meena from her being a sulky, spoiled little girl and how she grows through experience. A book anyone can relate to if they think back to their own childhood.
July 28, 2013
I picked up “Anita and Me” from a local charity shop several weeks ago. Like many people I knew of Meera through her TV appearances, but I hadn’t noticed that she had turned her hand to writing novels and screenplays. I saw the film version of the book several years ago and remember Meera playing a part, but had not noticed that she had actually written it.
Having seen the film I knew the basic premise of the story – a young Indian girl growing up in a small west midlands town in the early 1970s, trying to balance her heritage with her desire to be one of the gang.
The book follows a pivotal year in young Mena’s life. Like all nine-year old girls, she longs to grow up and hates being different. Her budding friendship with Anita Rutter, the self-confessed queen of the streets, brings her into conflict with her parents and the seemingly endless stream of “aunties” and “uncles” she is obliged to server and entertain at weekends.
Through Anita, Meena discovers that the grass is not always greener, and some friendships are not what they seem. But as Meena begins to see the darker side of her new found friend, and consequently the darker side of life in general, Anita finds herself drawn to her young friend for support.
Written with great insight and passion, this book is warm, funny and tragic, often all at the same time.
I look forward to reading more.
Having seen the film I knew the basic premise of the story – a young Indian girl growing up in a small west midlands town in the early 1970s, trying to balance her heritage with her desire to be one of the gang.
The book follows a pivotal year in young Mena’s life. Like all nine-year old girls, she longs to grow up and hates being different. Her budding friendship with Anita Rutter, the self-confessed queen of the streets, brings her into conflict with her parents and the seemingly endless stream of “aunties” and “uncles” she is obliged to server and entertain at weekends.
Through Anita, Meena discovers that the grass is not always greener, and some friendships are not what they seem. But as Meena begins to see the darker side of her new found friend, and consequently the darker side of life in general, Anita finds herself drawn to her young friend for support.
Written with great insight and passion, this book is warm, funny and tragic, often all at the same time.
I look forward to reading more.
November 19, 2010
I started reading this book in Zanzibar while on holiday in early November. I had expected the book to be a lightly comic take on how Indian a young Punjabi immigrant felt alongside her glamorous white English neighbour however the book tricked me by being a much better story than that. It did follow a young girl turning into a woman growing up in a Northern village and feeling very much the outsider but if you ask me her Nationality or skin colour had very little to do with it.
A universal tale of differences, of growing up, of awkward families and acceptance. About finding your own voice and your own style as you make your way in the world. This book gave me more of an insight into Northern villages than it did about immigrant families and I liked it all the more for that.
A really interesting glimpse into a period of recent British history which I had initially thought was autobiographical but it was much classier than that. The humour within was less 'black and white minstrel' and more blackly wry, dark and gritty, just the way I like it. It turned the tables and often laughed with but sometimes at the protagonist but no matter who it was focussed on, it remained sharp and brittle.
A universal tale of differences, of growing up, of awkward families and acceptance. About finding your own voice and your own style as you make your way in the world. This book gave me more of an insight into Northern villages than it did about immigrant families and I liked it all the more for that.
A really interesting glimpse into a period of recent British history which I had initially thought was autobiographical but it was much classier than that. The humour within was less 'black and white minstrel' and more blackly wry, dark and gritty, just the way I like it. It turned the tables and often laughed with but sometimes at the protagonist but no matter who it was focussed on, it remained sharp and brittle.
April 15, 2010
This was better than I was expecting it to be after reading another of her novels(Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee). This story is about growing up in Britain as about the only Asian family in the community. She is desperate to be accepted by Anita, the tough gang leader who seems happy enough to let the younger kids follow her. But our heroine soon realises that Anita is not as cool as she thought and then starts to feel the sting of racism from former friends.
Not a bad read. It was interesting that a family seen as so different were accepted immediately by the community, yet race relations now are at an all time low in Britain. A sad reflection on our society. It also deals with peer pressure and the pains of having your friends turn against you, which we can all relate to.
Not a bad read. It was interesting that a family seen as so different were accepted immediately by the community, yet race relations now are at an all time low in Britain. A sad reflection on our society. It also deals with peer pressure and the pains of having your friends turn against you, which we can all relate to.
March 10, 2020
Meena, Meena, Meena...
One of the few books I’ve come across where I truly connected with the protagonist. Multicultural identities isn’t unfamiliar to me - let’s say I have at least three in me. But to have a story about a British-Indian girl desperately trying to fit in with her surroundings was something truly emotional for me. Having this young energetic rebel was mind-blowing, certainly a good way to break the ceiling of Indian stereotypes, which I applaud Meera Syal for. It’s always refreshing to demonstrate that not all Indian girls are diligent and quiet and shining light on how similar we are to any other person figuring themselves out. True, I wasn’t quite the wild child Meena is in the book, but a lot of the thoughts she expresses are definitely things I was thinking of at those early stages (age 4 to 11 or 12), in retrospect.
Thank you Meera Syal for those delightful scenes with Indian relatives and non-relatives. Finally a book I can recommend to my parents!
One of the few books I’ve come across where I truly connected with the protagonist. Multicultural identities isn’t unfamiliar to me - let’s say I have at least three in me. But to have a story about a British-Indian girl desperately trying to fit in with her surroundings was something truly emotional for me. Having this young energetic rebel was mind-blowing, certainly a good way to break the ceiling of Indian stereotypes, which I applaud Meera Syal for. It’s always refreshing to demonstrate that not all Indian girls are diligent and quiet and shining light on how similar we are to any other person figuring themselves out. True, I wasn’t quite the wild child Meena is in the book, but a lot of the thoughts she expresses are definitely things I was thinking of at those early stages (age 4 to 11 or 12), in retrospect.
Thank you Meera Syal for those delightful scenes with Indian relatives and non-relatives. Finally a book I can recommend to my parents!
August 21, 2016
I had a lot of fun reading about Meena, who is somewhat larger than life in her small ex-mining village. Both her family, her Indian Aunties and Uncles, and her Tollington neighbours were so lovingly and vivdly rendered that I really felt that I knew them and would know how they would react in any new situation put before them, that I might almost recognise them if I met them on the street.
Growing up is hard, and this was conveyed by Syal in sometimes excruciating detail. Meena is so lovable, and I would often get anxious about her choices and almost try to influence her through the book, thinking that as someone not involved, I could have helped her to a better conclusion. But the book rejects such easy solutions, and rightly. I look forward greatly to discussing it in university next semester.
Growing up is hard, and this was conveyed by Syal in sometimes excruciating detail. Meena is so lovable, and I would often get anxious about her choices and almost try to influence her through the book, thinking that as someone not involved, I could have helped her to a better conclusion. But the book rejects such easy solutions, and rightly. I look forward greatly to discussing it in university next semester.
February 4, 2018
Meera is brilliant. She is so descriptive.
March 21, 2020
Anita and Me...a comic look at a troubled time, highlighting the tensions that come from the clash of cultures within its setting.
Nine year old Meena comes from a nice Punjabi family. Her parents are reluctant to let her forget her cultural roots, but Meena is at the age where she is more focused on the immediate. As the only coloured family in the small mining town of Tollington Meena is desperate to fit in with her peers...and the local ‘queen bee’ Anita. Inevitably, this doesn’t always go well.
The clash of Meena’s home life and her environment is written about with great comedic focus. It’s hard to laugh at some of these events and attitudes at the same time as hanging your head that this was the reality.
On occasion certain characters are, perhaps, exaggerated to develop a point. However, on the whole this was a good-humoured look at a key moment in time.
Nine year old Meena comes from a nice Punjabi family. Her parents are reluctant to let her forget her cultural roots, but Meena is at the age where she is more focused on the immediate. As the only coloured family in the small mining town of Tollington Meena is desperate to fit in with her peers...and the local ‘queen bee’ Anita. Inevitably, this doesn’t always go well.
The clash of Meena’s home life and her environment is written about with great comedic focus. It’s hard to laugh at some of these events and attitudes at the same time as hanging your head that this was the reality.
On occasion certain characters are, perhaps, exaggerated to develop a point. However, on the whole this was a good-humoured look at a key moment in time.
February 15, 2025
An interesting book, looking at the various dynamics and social nuances between the protagonist's Indian family, and the village of 70s Britain, picking up on the evolution of both the protagonist, but also the village itself. This is very rich, and appears to be semi-autobiographical. I had actually watched the film of this first, not knowing it was a book, and later picked it up to try. The film is surprisingly follows the book quite closely. I found the start to be a little weak in terms of a plot picking up as it keeps getting sidetracked into anecdotes, but perhaps that is partly just my taste, and once underway that got stronger.
July 2, 2022
some of my favourite quotes from the book:
“I knew I was a freak of some kind, too mouthy, clumsy and scabby to be a real Indian girl, too Indian to be a real Tollington wench, but living in the grey area between all categories felt increasingly like home.”
“I am the others, Sam. You did mean me.”
“I knew I was a freak of some kind, too mouthy, clumsy and scabby to be a real Indian girl, too Indian to be a real Tollington wench, but living in the grey area between all categories felt increasingly like home.”
“I am the others, Sam. You did mean me.”
April 26, 2020
Fantastic book- I loved every page and every story. A memoir style centred around Meena trying to define her personal identity as she grows up.
Read
May 16, 2022DNF
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