MONICA ALI (b.1967)
Brick Lane. London: Doubleday, 2003.
An extraordinary first edition, signed on the title page and extensively annotated by the author across 79 pages with over 1000 words of commentary. Ali’s debut novel centres on the life and journey to self-realization of Nazneen, a Bangladeshi woman living on a council estate in Tower Hamlets. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2003, it was also adapted into a film of the same name in 2007. The author’s annotations, in black ink throughout, are the result of her re-reading the novel for the first time in ‘16 or 17 years’, at which she admits a ‘sense of trepidation. Also curiosity’. Her insightful commentary pays close attention to the text—often highlighting what pleases, shocks or surprises her in her language choices, and pointing to key moments in the narrative. Other comments discuss her inspiration, her responses to the film adaptation, the editorial advice she received, and issues faced by her characters around racial and gender inequality which persist to this day.

Octavo. Original black cloth, spine lettered in gilt, dust jacket.

Buyer’s premium is payable, with a significant portion donated by Christie’s to English PEN, but note that no VAT is payable on hammer price or buyer’s premium.
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