Chapter 8 Summary

Tower Hamlets, London, February 2001. Thirteen years have passed since Raqib's death, and Nazneen is now 34 years old. Chanu is teaching their daughters, Shahana and Bibi, how to recite "My Golden Bengal." They are preparing to return home to Bangladesh as soon as they have enough money. Shahana is completely against going home. She doesn't like Bengali music, clothes or food, and she wants to wear jeans. Shahana makes her father angry and he often threatens, "the little memsahib," using her sister, Bibi, as the messenger. After the stressful and forced recitation, the girls escape to bed. Shahana throws a tantrum and kicks her mother in the shins.

At night, when it's quiet, Nazneen is alert to the different sounds coming from the community around them. She has grown used to cutting Chanu's corns, a task that once disgusted her. As she cuts Chanu's...