Sharon Duggal - The Handsworth Times

I wasn't old enough to really understand the Handsworth Riots when they took place in 1981. Living in Balsall Heath in Birmingham we were a relatively long way from events, but me and my school-mates certainly took notice. Even eight and nine year olds like us understood that something big was happening.

Sharon Duggal's The Handsworth Times is a study of what the riots meant to a small section of the Handsworth community. The novel centres on the Agarwals, whose youngest son Billy is killed by an ambulance during the rioting. Billy's death leads to the family's downward spiral as father Mukesh, a factory worker immigrant from India, turns to alcohol to cop with the pain. Usha, his wife, obsessively cleans the house to try and cope, and their three daughters struggle to deal with the tragedy and the unravelling of their lives.

The backdrop to all of these is Thatcherism, economic crisis and the rise in racism. The community faces all of these, and the Nazi National Front who turn up to sow further division. As Mukesh and millions of workers like him lose their jobs, it is up to ordinary people to try and stand up for justice and equality.

This isn't an easy novel to read. The story is as painful as the backdrop. Duggal brings to life the reality of unemployment, poor, overcrowded housing, racism and family tensions. In their different ways, each daughter finds a way of dealing with the tragedy, and at least one of them gets to kick a Nazi in the bollocks. Duggal's novel is well observed, full of black comedy and understanding of what it meant to be young, Asian and working class in 1980s Birmingham. If I've one criticism its that Duggal tries a little too hard with period detail. While I enjoyed the multiple references to songs, food and locations at times it was a little overwhelming.

I'm sure that many of the followers of this blog will enjoy this story of community resistance and resilience.