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Anita and Me

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( 3,188 ratings, 198 reviews)
Brief Description
The debut novel from the award-winning screenwriter of Bhaji on the Beach. The story of nine-year-old Meena, growing up in the only Punjabi family in the Black Country mining village of Tollington. Blonde, sassy and rebellious, Anita Rutter is everything nine-year-old Meena wants to be. Growing... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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The debut novel from the award-winning screenwriter of 'Bhaji on the Beach'. The story of nine-year-old Meena, growing up in the only Punjabi family in the Black Country mining village of Tollington.

The heartfelt memoir exploring family dynamics in a Punjabi-British household

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The debut novel from the award-winning screenwriter of Bhaji on the Beach. The story of nine-year-old Meena, growing up in the only Punjabi family in the Black Country mining village of Tollington.

Blonde, sassy and rebellious, Anita Rutter is everything nine-year-old Meena wants to be. Growing up in the only Punjabi family in the village, Meena is desperate to break free from her parents. She wants fish fingers and chips, not chapati and dhal; she wants an English Christmas, not her family’s endless Diwali celebrations. And more than anything, she wants Anita to accept her into her gang.

But is a friendship with Anita Rutter really everything it seems?

A vivid portrait of a British childhood in the 1970s, Anita and Me is a novel rich with humour and compassion – a poignant story of immigration, adolescence and belonging.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780008706173

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 23 May 2024

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Fourth Estate Ltd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 27.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 240g

Pages: 320

About the Author

Meera Syal is a writer, actress, playwright, comic and novelist. She wrote the screenplays for the films Bhaji on the Beach and the multi-award-winning My Sister Wife. Her TV work includes 3 BBC hit series, The Real McCoy, The Kumars at No 42 and Goodness Gracious Me. She scripted the musical Bombay Dreams, which opened this summer in London. Anita and Me, her first novel, won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize. Her second novel, Life Isn’t All Ha-Ha, Hee-Hee, was published in 1999.

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  • Anita and Me
    This poignant coming-of-age tale follows Meena, a young girl growing up in the only Punjabi family in a 1970s Black Country mining village. Meena spends her days happily getting into scrapes with the other local children until one day the impossibly cool Anita enters her life. Suddenly, Meena knows exactly who she wants to be, but is Anita all that...
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