What do you think?
Rate this book
Wimbledon #3
East of Wimbledon
THIS IS BRAND NEW BOOK.WE PROVIDE 100% CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
6 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
September 4, 2015
The third and last of Nigel Williams' Wimbledon Trilogy from the early 90s following the relatively amusing Wimbledon Poisoner (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) and the, to me, disappointing They Came from SW19 (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...).
East of Wimbledon falls rather between these two. Written only a few years after the Salman Rushdie Satanic Verses affair, the topic matter feels a little controversial now but actually would have been no less so at the time, although as with the previous novels, the social attitudes feel surprisingly dated for a book written less than 25 years earlier.
East of Wimbledon tells the tale of Robert, a 20-something drifter, who decides to fake both teaching and religious credentials to get a job at the newly formed Wimbledon Day Islamic Boys' School, set up to provide a British prep school education for the Muslim community (and to make money for it's rather colourful headmaster).
Williams novel mixes in a East-meets-West story, with suburban Englishman Robert alarmingly ignorant of his newly professed religion ("Wasn't the general idea to line up against the wall and bang your head against it? Or was that Jews?", "Should he have worn a hat? A turban of some kind?") with an attempt (as in the two previous novels) at a thrillesque story line involving an obscure sect taken of Nizari Ismailis, with details taken from Bernhard Lewis's The Assassins, a book not without controversy of its own (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...).
Robert's understanding of Islam is taken entirely from the only book on the topic he could find in Wimbledon Library, and at times one can't help wonder if the same is true of the author.
At times, it is unclear whether we are supposed to be laughing at the misunderstanding and prejudices of a SW19 dweller when confronted with other cultures, or at those cultures themselves ('"You are the vomit of the devil, Wilson." He was always saying things like this. Robert did not like to think of himself as a snob, but, had he been in charge of the Wimbledon Day Islamic Boys' School, he would have expected a higher standard of civility from the cleaning staff.'), and indeed at times the narrator seems to derive most amusement from the Islamic parents and teachers acting as more British than the natives themselves.
The thriller storyline rather peters out, in contrast to the two previous novels there is no real twist or revelation, but perhaps the novel is no worse for that. Instead Williams seems to want to make a point, that perhaps the former subjects of the British empire are its true heirs:
The headmaster "seemed to Robert more English than he could ever be. He seemed to summon up an England of green lawns, elegant teas and beautiful women in long dresses, trailing parasols. An England that, these days, existed only in Merchant Ivory films. There was nothing squalidly European about him. He was imperial in scope"
One oddity of the 2nd novel of the trilogy was that there was no overlap at all with the 1st. I suspect that may have been the feedback from readers at the time and it is noticeable in this 3rd book that characters from the previous novel feature prominently as background characters, e.g. in the pub ("Henry Farr, the solicitor from Maple Drive, who could be so funny when he chose, had said in his comic colonel voice "Johnny Muslim can be quite a tricky customer") or walking their dogs on the Common.
Robert summarises these characters rather neatly as "people who at first sight had seemed so friendly and decent and open and neighbourly, but who, after two or three encounters, had turned into ravingly obsessive lunatics", and there is an intriguing, but not followed up, mention of a successor to the Poisoner, the Wimbledon Dog Murderer, which I couldn't help feel sounded like the topic for a better book.
East of Wimbledon falls rather between these two. Written only a few years after the Salman Rushdie Satanic Verses affair, the topic matter feels a little controversial now but actually would have been no less so at the time, although as with the previous novels, the social attitudes feel surprisingly dated for a book written less than 25 years earlier.
East of Wimbledon tells the tale of Robert, a 20-something drifter, who decides to fake both teaching and religious credentials to get a job at the newly formed Wimbledon Day Islamic Boys' School, set up to provide a British prep school education for the Muslim community (and to make money for it's rather colourful headmaster).
Williams novel mixes in a East-meets-West story, with suburban Englishman Robert alarmingly ignorant of his newly professed religion ("Wasn't the general idea to line up against the wall and bang your head against it? Or was that Jews?", "Should he have worn a hat? A turban of some kind?") with an attempt (as in the two previous novels) at a thrillesque story line involving an obscure sect taken of Nizari Ismailis, with details taken from Bernhard Lewis's The Assassins, a book not without controversy of its own (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...).
Robert's understanding of Islam is taken entirely from the only book on the topic he could find in Wimbledon Library, and at times one can't help wonder if the same is true of the author.
At times, it is unclear whether we are supposed to be laughing at the misunderstanding and prejudices of a SW19 dweller when confronted with other cultures, or at those cultures themselves ('"You are the vomit of the devil, Wilson." He was always saying things like this. Robert did not like to think of himself as a snob, but, had he been in charge of the Wimbledon Day Islamic Boys' School, he would have expected a higher standard of civility from the cleaning staff.'), and indeed at times the narrator seems to derive most amusement from the Islamic parents and teachers acting as more British than the natives themselves.
The thriller storyline rather peters out, in contrast to the two previous novels there is no real twist or revelation, but perhaps the novel is no worse for that. Instead Williams seems to want to make a point, that perhaps the former subjects of the British empire are its true heirs:
The headmaster "seemed to Robert more English than he could ever be. He seemed to summon up an England of green lawns, elegant teas and beautiful women in long dresses, trailing parasols. An England that, these days, existed only in Merchant Ivory films. There was nothing squalidly European about him. He was imperial in scope"
One oddity of the 2nd novel of the trilogy was that there was no overlap at all with the 1st. I suspect that may have been the feedback from readers at the time and it is noticeable in this 3rd book that characters from the previous novel feature prominently as background characters, e.g. in the pub ("Henry Farr, the solicitor from Maple Drive, who could be so funny when he chose, had said in his comic colonel voice "Johnny Muslim can be quite a tricky customer") or walking their dogs on the Common.
Robert summarises these characters rather neatly as "people who at first sight had seemed so friendly and decent and open and neighbourly, but who, after two or three encounters, had turned into ravingly obsessive lunatics", and there is an intriguing, but not followed up, mention of a successor to the Poisoner, the Wimbledon Dog Murderer, which I couldn't help feel sounded like the topic for a better book.
March 25, 2020
I thought this would be a humorous reading during a crazy time . Heard this guy was a modern day Wodehouse, which I thought would be a fun blend with contemporary suburban London life. Boy was I disappointed.
The main character had none of the warmth of a Bertie Wooster. In fact, I didn't find much to like in any of the characters (except maybe the schoolmaster). He made such terrible choices from the get go and I just couldn't find anything to relate to in him. Couldn't finish.
The main character had none of the warmth of a Bertie Wooster. In fact, I didn't find much to like in any of the characters (except maybe the schoolmaster). He made such terrible choices from the get go and I just couldn't find anything to relate to in him. Couldn't finish.
July 2, 2019
The closing chapters had me guffawing!
December 16, 2024
Mostly this book reminds me of a time when comedy was different, when being a curmudgeonly white guy making jokes about the other was commonplace. Mr. Williams probably didn't think of a Muslim audience reading his books, and if he did - he probably didn't care what they thought. But, still, his stance is a privileged stance and I respond to this humor differently now. To be fair, the protagonist (a hapless, clueless, gormless white male), does not "triump" at the end and he kinda gets his comeuppance.
Would my 1994 or so self had liked it more? I'd like to think not, punching down is still punching down. A white guy pretending to be a Muslim to get a job as a teacher at a new Muslim day school is the epitome of slumming and the author supposes the audience is in on the joke. It it is just jot more nuanced than that - but not much.
Would my 1994 or so self had liked it more? I'd like to think not, punching down is still punching down. A white guy pretending to be a Muslim to get a job as a teacher at a new Muslim day school is the epitome of slumming and the author supposes the audience is in on the joke. It it is just jot more nuanced than that - but not much.
December 7, 2025
The subject matter is likely to be considered distasteful if not unacceptable these days. But it romps along quickly, mocks religion in general, has a warmth for its characters with all their fallings, and a lot of wit. It would make a great sitcom, but no one would be be allowed to make it. And if there is a central message, it's "let's just all get on".
November 26, 2017
"Screamingly funny", says The Independent on Sunday.
Really?
I smiled at the ridiculous antics a few times but "wildly funny" (New Statesman), no, not really.
I won't hurry to read another by Nigel Williams.
Maybe you have to live in Wimbledon to fully appreciate it.
Really?
I smiled at the ridiculous antics a few times but "wildly funny" (New Statesman), no, not really.
I won't hurry to read another by Nigel Williams.
Maybe you have to live in Wimbledon to fully appreciate it.
June 27, 2020
More insensitive than funny, and not even remotely like a Wodehouse. A depressing and dysfunctional cast of characters, who flounder around making it difficult to keep track of the plot, if there really is one. If this is part of a trilogy, I certainly wouldn’t read the other two.
April 25, 2023
6/10 3% Not “screamingly funny” as the IOS claim - a moderately humorous bad taste tale about religion. Unfortunately two more in the box set still to read - on the plus side, loads better than Dianetics which I’m struggling with in tandem!
January 12, 2020
It's a book... you could read it. It's the weakest of the Trilogy to be honest. It has some funny moments but nothing special.
December 5, 2020
Like finding a time capsule
July 23, 2025
A fantastic and hilarious read, with a meticulously crafted plot. The ending is brilliant. And very forgiving!
February 22, 2026
Very poor, lacks any humour beyond rearranging the name of the school every, frequent time it appears, which is not humorous. I finished it in the hooe that it would improve, it didn't.
August 30, 2022
Quite a hard book to rate - a very odd little novel. At times very funny, racist but possibly just in a 90s way, and weirdly nihilistic in a way I didn't expect.
April 10, 2009
Written in the early 'nineties this tells the story of a moderately average white man who passes himself off as a Muslim to get a job at the new independent Muslim boys' school in Wimbledon that's just about to open. As a satire on religion, contemporary morals and attitudes it's fairly standard and feels more than a little dated. Having said that the reason I chose to read it is that it's almost impossible to imagine someone writing a satire on Islam and its practitioners nowadays. The telling is fine and the characterisations enjoyable enough - I just think that global events have overtaken the parochial world in which this is set.
April 22, 2016
This is a hoot! I rarely laugh out loud but this book had me laughing out loud all the way through. If you're a fan of Cold Comfort Farm or Little Britain, or English satirical comedy generally, then you will probably enjoy this as much as I did. It's unlikely that such a non pc book would be published in the current climate but actually it takes no prisoners and pokes fun at just about everyone's beliefs and misperceptions. If you need cheering up, read this.
August 18, 2014
Started with a bang and ended with a whimper...
Some very funny lines (Sonny and Cher muslims was a cute wordplay) but insufficient momentum and a disappointing ending.
But would try this author again/
Some very funny lines (Sonny and Cher muslims was a cute wordplay) but insufficient momentum and a disappointing ending.
But would try this author again/
November 9, 2015
Bijzonder leuk, soms hilarisch verhaal - ik las het in de Nederlandse vertaling (De meesterlijke moslim), alleen jammer dat de auteur het kennelijk tóch nodig vond om het op een politiek correcte nood te laten eindigen.
October 23, 2014
A loser pretends to be Muslim to get a job at a new independent school.
I didn’t enjoy this book, the writing / humour / characters were all a bit flat / un-engaging.
I didn’t enjoy this book, the writing / humour / characters were all a bit flat / un-engaging.
November 17, 2015
Very entertaining and good fun
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews