Monica Ali Knihy

Úspěšná prvotina britské autorky zachycuje život Naznín, bangladéšské dívky, která byla při narození tak slabá, že ji porodní bába prohlásila za mrtvou. Když ji v osmnácti letech otec provdá za Chánua, bengálského přistěhovalce žijícího v Anglii, přijme to Naznín s odevzdaností, s jakou přijímá ve svém životě všechno. V Londýně se usadí uprostřed bangladéšské přistěhovalecké komunity v Brick Lane, stane se manželkou a matkou a užasle pozoruje neznámý život kolem sebe. Ačkoli její manžel je mnohem starší než ona, Nazní se naučí toho laskavého nepraktického muže milovat, poddá se osudu a rušný londýnský život vnímá především prostřednictvím svých dcer a do různé míry asimilovaných sousedů. Její vzpurná, krásná sestra Hasína, která v šestnácti letech utekla z domova s milencem, jí mezitím v dopisech líčí svůj život, který je na hony vzdálen Nazníniným idealizovaným vzpomínkám na Bangladéš. Ale nakonec se i pokorná Naznín začne cítit příliš svázaná tradicí, vírou a výchovou v zemi, která nabízí tolik příležitostí. A když jí osud, na nějž tolik spoléhá, pošle do cesty přitažlivého mladého muže, musí se poprvé v životě rozhodnout sama za sebe.

Román je ódou na pomíjivost. A nikde není pocit pomíjivosti intenzivnější než v prostředí velkoměstského hotelu, v tomto případě hotelu Imperial na londýnském náměstí Picadilly Circus. Ústřední postavou je Gabriel Lightfood, hotelový šéfkuchař. Ve svých dvaačtyřiceti se ocitá na přelomu života. Sponzoři jsou připraveni financovat naplnění jeho snu o vlastním restaurantu, a právě požádal o ruku svou přítelkyni Charlie. Objev mrtvoly vrátného v hotelovém suterénu je ale okamžikem, od kterého se Gabrielovy životní jistoty začínají hroutit. Setkává se s tajemnou dívkou Lenou z Východní Evropy, nejasně spojenou se smrtí vrátného. Lena tvrdí, že je obětí obchodu s bílým masem a Gabriel jí nabídne pomoc. A věci se začnou komplikovat. Víc než co jiného je ale román V kuchyni knihou o světě práce - jak nás mění a definuje. Gabrielovo pracoviště, v posledních letech zprofanované televizními show, se tady zdá být i nadále fascinující a kuchyňské scény jsou silnými místy románu. Své postavy autorka často používá jako prostředníky k tlumočení rozdílných názorů na Velkou Británii. A obratně tak vytváří portrét národa, jenž ztrácí pocit identity.

With nationalism and the far right on the rise across Europe and North America, there has never been a more important moment to face up to what we, in Britain, are doing to those who seek sanctuary. Still the UK detains people indefinitely under immigration rules. Bail hearings go unrecorded, people are picked up without notice, individuals feel abandoned in detention centres with no way of knowing when they will be released. In Refugee Tales III we read the stories of people who have been through this process, many of whom have yet to see their cases resolved and who live in fear that at any moment they might be detained again. Poets, novelists and writers have once again collaborated with people who have experienced detention, their tales appearing alongside first-hand accounts by people who themselves have been detained. What we hear in these stories are the realities of the hostile environment, the human costs of a system that disregards rights, that denies freedoms and suspends lives.

Homemade edibles are cost-effective, discreet, and delicious! This practical cookbook is the go-to resource for the cannabis curious of all levels and offers approachable ways to incorporate a variety of cannabinoids into your routine. With step-by-step instructions and colour photos, you'll also get pro tips for safely handling and labelling your confections. Get inspired to create your own special gummies and candies that are even better than your average dispensary-bought treats! Take your cannabis cooking skills to the next level and get your sugar fix with this ultimate cookbook.

With carefully adapted text, new illustrations, language practise activities and additional online resources, the Penguin Readers series introduces language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction. Brick Lane, a Level 6 Reader, is B1+ in the CEFR framework. The longer text is made up of sentences with up to four clauses, introducing future continuous, reported questions, third conditional, was going to and ellipsis. A small number of illustrations support the text. When Nazneen is 18, she marries a much older man and moves from Bangladesh to England to be with her husband. But Brick Lane in London is very different from Nazneen's village, and she speaks no English. Nazneen must try to look after her family and get used to a new, and very strange, country.

"Yasmin Ghorami in twenty-six, in training to be a doctor (like her Indian-born father), and engaged to the charismatic, upper-class Joe Sangster, whose formidable mother, Harriet, is a famous feminist. The gulf between families is vast. So, too, is the gulf in sexual experience between Yasmin and Joe. As the wedding day draws near, misunderstandings, infidelities, and long-held secrets upend both Yasmin's relationship and that of her parents, a "love marriage," according to the family lore that Yasmin has believed all her life. A gloriously acute observer of class, sexual mores, and the mysteries of the human heart, Monica Ali has written a captivating social comedy and a profoundly moving, revelatory story of two cultures, two families, and two people trying to understand one another."--

Lydia, an Englishwoman abroad, chooses to escape her past. Although she builds a new life, forges friendships and makes a home, she cannot forget what she left behind: her children, her family and her heritage. But can she ever truly shake off her history...?

Alentejo Blue" is the story of the Portuguese village of Mamarrosa told through the lives of those who live there and those who are passing through - men and women, children and old people, locals, tourists and expatriates. For some, such as Teresa, a beautiful, dreamy village girl, it is a place from which to escape; for others - the dysfunctional Potts family - it is a way of running from trouble (but not eluding it). Vasco, a cafe owner who has never recovered from the death of his American wife, clings to a notion that his years in America make him superior to the other villagers. One English tourist makes Mamarrosa the subject of her fantasy of a new life, while for her compatriots, a young engaged couple, Mamarrosa is where their dreams finally fall apart. At the book's opening an old man reflects on his long and troubled life in this beautiful and seemingly tranquil setting, and anticipates the return of Marco Afonso Rodrigues, the prodigal son of the village and a symbol of this now fast-changing world. The homecoming is the subject of continuing speculation, and when Marco Afonso Rodrigues does finally appear, villagers, tourists and expatriates are brought together and jealousies, passions and disappointments must inevitably collide.

Running an independent hospitality business is complex, whether it's a hotel or restaurant, and mistakes will cost you money - or your reputation.