Summary

Although the transition to London was a difficult one, the family needed the two years there to adjust to life without Hassan’s mother. At times it seemed that they were in hell. Uncle Sami, Hassan’s mother’s youngest brother, picked them up at Heathrow when they arrived. Hassan met his cousin Aziza for the first time; but, she was not very friendly. His aunt told him to stay away from Aziza because she was dirty. Sami assured the family that Southall was a good neighborhood to live in and that it was convenient to many Indian shops. Sami found the family a six-bedroom house.

Southall was the unofficial community of Britain’s Indian, Pakistanim and Bangladesh population. There were family signs in the neighborhood that reminded Hassan of home. But, the fog that made everything continuously wet was something new. Their new...