Q: Does deception play a prevalent role in the Pakistani and Bangladeshi immigrant cultures?

A: I think that many Pakistani and Bangladeshi immigrant families still struggle with the disparity between their traditional Eastern and Islamic values and those of the Western society in which they have chosen to live, to the extent that traditionally “unacceptable” behavior such as homosexuality, dating, drinking, or gambling are not openly acknowledged by the first generation, forcing the younger and more Westernized family members into secrecy. That said, in Bitter Sweets the moral conflicts of the characters which lead them to deceive are not a result of religious dilemmas or culture clashes, but rather due to their very personal and ambiguous emotions.

Q: Are your characters representative of the Pakistani and Bangladeshi immigrant communities?

A: I lived in three areas of London with high proportions of immigrants --- in Tooting, Bethnal Green, and Southwark, and drew inspiration from the locals that I met there, as well as from my own experience. Bhai Hassan’s sweet shop and Parvez’s successful restaurant business have many real-life equivalents in Tooting. However, my characters are middle-class, which doesn’t yet represent the majority of immigrants; it was recently reported in the UK (April 2007) that as many as two-thirds of Bengali immigrants still live in poverty.

Q: The novel opens with an arranged marriage in the 1950s --- do arranged marriages still take place? How successful are they in your opinion?

A: Henna’s arranged marriage to Ricky-Rashid was rather enlightened for the 1950s as they had the opportunity to meet each other on a few occasions before the day itself; back then, it wouldn’t have been unusual for all arrangements to have been made between the heads of the families, and for the bride and groom to have met for the first time on their wedding day.

Arranged marriages were the norm for my grandparents’ generation, and still very common for my parents’ generation --- my own parents were considered unconventional at the time, as they met at work, married for love, and organized their own wedding without parental involvement or approval. Arranged marriages still take place today, in the UK as well as in the Indian subcontinent; those that I know of have been approached in a more modern way, allowing for much greater consultation with the potential bride and groom from the outset, and involving several meetings before they agree to the marriage. In some cases, it’s more about “introduction” rather than “arrangement,” as it is left up to the couple whether or not they want to proceed and get to know each other better with a view to marrying. It’s hard for me to give an opinion on whether marriages like this are successful per se --- as with any marriage, it depends on the willingness of both parties to work at it.

Q: Did you draw on your own family for inspiration for Bitter Sweets?

A: Yes, not for any of the specific characters, but for the bigger theme of long-running familial deception; my father was particularly prone to concealing difficult truths, and confidently asserting alternatives which he thought more interesting, enjoyable, or engaging.

Q: How has the Asian community reacted to Bitter Sweets?

A: I’ve had very positive reactions to the book; some have said that it was refreshing to come across a novel that portrayed modern Bangladeshis in such a positive light, rather than the more traditional depiction of them as poor victims dragged from their villages into urban squalor. Henna is a very different sort of Bengali housewife than we are used to seeing in the West, in that she is extrovert, unrepentantly manipulative, cosmopolitan, and stylish. However, I have also been criticized in some quarters for not being “political” enough, and not representing the clash of East/West cultures as a driving force in the novel. This was a deliberate choice --- I’m fortunate enough to be of a generation that doesn’t have to wear one’s ethnicity as a chip on the shoulder or a soapbox to stand on; it’s simply what I am. In the same way, although my characters are Asian, my concern isn’t to explore issues to do with their “Asian-ness” but rather their deeper emotional and psychological motivations that are unrelated to their race --- in this sense, my characters are universal, as I’m far more interested in what lies beneath the skin

Q: What is your own Asian background?

A: Like the twin boys in my novel, my father was Pakistani, and my mother is Bangladeshi. I was born in Pakistan in 1974, but my family moved to London when I was seven months old; by the time I was sixteen I had taken dual British/Pakistani citizenship. My family was always rather international and relaxed with regard to our Muslim faith; when my parents separated, my father married a Chinese-American Catholic, and my mother’s long term partner (who gave me away at my wedding) is English-Iraqi of Jewish origin. My sisters and I were brought up in a liberal environment where we were free to date or drink without censure, but still retained our Muslim identity. No eyebrows were raised in the extended family when I married my Anglo-Irish husband in a civil ceremony (I wore a sari, he wore a suit), although my aunt did express astonishment some years later when I explained that I’d left him at home that day to look after our baby by himself; “But he’s a man! Are you sure he’s capable?”

Q: Are there any writers that you think have influenced your work?

A: I’m not sure if my actual writing has been obviously influenced by particular authors; in fact, I make it a point not to read any fiction at all when I write, to avoid getting drawn into another writer’s tone of voice. That said, I really admire some of the novels of Anita Desai, Kazuo Ishiguro and Margaret Atwood --- their writing is lyrical and effortless, and reading their books made me want to be a writer myself.

Q: How long did it take you to write Bitter Sweets?

A: The actual writing only took about six months, but I’d mulled over the themes for a long time previously, so much of it was already written in my head, and it was just a matter of getting it down on paper.

Q: You used to work in advertising before you started writing. Do you prefer being a writer?

A: Absolutely. I had some fun times in advertising, but there’s no competition. Like all writers, I feel deeply privileged to be able to do something that I really love for a living. (And being a writer gives you an excuse to float about cafés, have unfeasibly long bubble baths, and indulge in sinful patisserie during a normal working day.)

Q: What is your favorite time of day to write?

A: Mid-morning to mid-afternoon (with tea and biscuits and laptop, stretched out on my bed or on the sofa)

Q: What’s the first book you remember falling in love with?

A: The Iliad by Homer --- I read it when I was ten and obsessed with Greek mythology; it’s still one of my favorite books.

Q: Which book do you wish you had written and why?

A: Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A Milne: I rediscovered it by reading it to my toddler, it’s just the perfect book for children, the charm is timeless and universal.

Q: Where is your favorite place in the world?

A: Angkor Wat in Cambodia --- the scattered buildings of the ancient temple city are magical; I first went there when I was a backpacking student.

Q: If you had three wishes, what would they be?

A: I guess the usual: World Peace, An End to World Poverty, and three more wishes…

Q: What is your favorite film?

A: My Fair Lady --- I’m embarrassed to admit that I frequently hum the songs to myself, and even quoted one in Bitter Sweets at vast personal expense.

Q: If you could invite three fictional characters to a dinner party at your house, who would they be?

A: It would be fun to have Mr. Rochester, Mr. Darcy and Heathcliff round for dinner to entertain my single girlfriends. Or I could re-create the Mad Hatter’s tea party for my little boy.

Q: What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a writer?

A: Once you’ve written something you’re proud of, be professional and persistent in approaching literary agents and publishers --- read the books on making effective submissions, and then put yourself in every slush pile and competition you can. If your work is good, you’ll get noticed eventually, even if it takes months and years. And once you’ve finished writing your first book, don’t put off writing your second; lots of authors don’t get their first effort published, and if you have two books under your belt you’ll have demonstrated to agents and publishers that you’re a serious writer, and not a one-trick pony.

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