Corner Shop [Paperback]

Roopa Farooki (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 21, 2008

There are only two tragedies in life. One is not getting your heart's desire and the other? Getting it. Fourteen-year-old Lucky Khalil is passionate about three things: football, Star Wars and Portia, the girl who works in his grandfather's corner shop. In that order. While Lucky pursues his girl and his dreams of one day scoring for England, his mother Delphine, the woman who seems to have everything, fantasizes about rediscovering the freedom of her youth. But rekindling a relationship with her father-in-law Zaki is only going to end in disaster ...And, as they move closer to their dreams, do they risk losing sight of what's really important? Praise for Bitter Sweets 'A charming read, hugely enjoyable, brilliantly plotted ...wears its multiculturalism lightly' Jackie Kay, Chair of the Orange Award for New Writers, 2007 'Witty, thought-provoking, sad and uplifting' Sunday Telegraph

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Like her delightful first novel, Bitter Sweets (2007), Farooki’s second is a multi-generational tale about the struggle to achieve a dream and the reality that follows even the most amazing accomplishment. Zaki defied his father and married a beautiful young pregnant widow, only to find himself widowed a few years later and forced to accept his father’s offer to run a small shop in London. Zaki’s daughter-in-law—and former lover—Delphine has everything she thought she wanted: a loving husband and a smart, ambitious son, but she finds herself longing for the passion she shared with Zaki. Her 15-year-old son, Lucky, is an aspiring footballer, but he’s chagrined when his coach puts him in the goalie box. Still, Lucky finds love with his dream girl and success on the football field, growing ever closer to his dream to be on England’s World Cup team. A complex exploration of the ever-changing nature of wants and desires and the consequences of achieving one’s dreams, Farooki’s tale eschews easy answers for the complex, appealing characters that people its pages. --Kristine Huntley --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Aspirations and family ties play out across three generations of the Khalil family in Farooki's fine new novel (after "Bitter Sweets").... [A] flawed yet likable cast... question what, exactly, leads to a more fulfilled life. This character- and culture-rich novel will appeal to Jhumpa Lahiri and Zadie Smith fans looking for quainter fare." "--Publishers Weekly""Farooki's characters are convincingly complex... While her first novel, Bitter Sweets, was called "enjoyably breezy" ("New York Times"), this work has a depth to it that requires more substantial adjectives. Highly recommended." -"Library Journal" "A complex exploration of the ever-changing nature of wants and desires and the consequences of achieving one's dreams, Farooki's tale eschews easy answers for the complex, appealing characters that people its pages." -"Booklist"

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Product Details

• Paperback: 355 pages
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan (November 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 033044364X
• ISBN-13: 978-0330443647
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 5.2 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,926,707 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Complex and compelling, December 5, 2009

By 

Jean Seligmann "Jeanie" (Menemsha, MA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Corner Shop (Hardcover)

I can't understand why more people, at least more Amazon reviewers, have apparently not yet discovered the extraordinarily talented Roopa Farooki. For several years I've been feasting on a banquet of novels by writers from the Indian subcontinent ,and Farooki serves up some of the tastiest and subtlest dishes.

Both her excellent first novel, "Bitter Sweets," and this one are populated by multigenerational families; getting to know those grandparents and teenagers, as well as the middle generation, is like expanding your own family--without the obligation to call on their birthdays. Farooki loves to play with words and does so with skill and often humor. (Look for the verbal joke in Jinan's faked heart trouble.)

Farooki is a daring architect. The first half of "Corner Shop" develops several plotlinrs from different characters' viewpoints. Zaki, the charming 50-something patriarch, has passionate affairs with the lovely Frenchwoman Delphine, both before and after she marries his strait-laced but endearing son Jinan (who is technically Zaki's stepson, but there's still a frisson of incest). Delphine's own adolescent son (could his father actually be Zaki? ) is consumed by his dream of becoming a pro footballer for England; prepare for detailed but dramtic play-by-plays of the game we know as soccer.

In Part Two of this saga, much of the action and viewpoint suddenly shift, bur all the players are still heard from. Alas, a coda, somewhat awkwardly tacked on in a final chapter, inexplicably fails to explain what has happened over the years to the charismatic Zaki. This surprising lacuna, and Farooki's occasional descemt into "chick lit" silliness, are the only reasons I'm not awarding five stars to this otherwise engaging, page-turning novel.

Farooki has written a third novel, "The Way Things Look To Me," about a girl with Asperger's syndrome and her two siblings, but so far it has not been published in the U.S. (You can easily get it from amazon.ca or amazon.co.uk.) And her fourth one, "Half Life," will be published in the U.S.on April 27, 2010.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars (2.5 stars) Disappointing, February 3, 2009

By 

K. Huff (Radnor, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Corner Shop (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed Roopa Farooki's first novel, Bitter Sweets. Her prose was lively, her characters unique, and the overall story was intriguing. Reading Corner Shop, however, made me wonder, "what happened?"

The story centers around the Khalil family: Zaki, who runs a corner shop in a run-down part of London; his son, Jinan, who's a lawyer; Jinan's wife, Delphine, a French transplant; and their son, Lucky, destined to have a great career as a soccer player. The story follows the characters over a long period of time, from the moment that Zaki and Delphine meet until the present.

The first part of this book started off strongly and promisingly enough. But then, it deteriorated for me towards the middle (I'll be spoiling the story if I say any more). The Asian influence, which was such a big part of the story in Bitter Sweets, is only incidental here; in fact, these characters could have been anyone, and it wouldn't have mattered. There's very little warmth and vitality here, either in the story or the characters. However, of the four main characters, Farooki's depiction of Lucky is easily the best, with Zaki's being the weakest (and I didn't like how she suddenly turned the narrative to first-person halfway though the book).

With regards to the story itself, Farooki also had this annoying habit of picking up ideas for plot twists and then abandoning them immediately. About half of the novel has that "chick lit" feel, as the reader is introduced to Delphine's friends and their problems. Too, the book didn't seem to have much of an ending, only a tacked-on "25 years later" kind of thing that left me disappointed. And whatever happened to Zaki? Farooki is a strong writer, and I'm hoping that this is only a "sophomore slump" from her. I look forward to reading more of what she writes.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This isn't about endings, it's about beginnings", March 7, 2009

By 

Michael Leonard "MikeonAlpha" (Silver Lake, Los Angeles, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Corner Shop (Hardcover)

Focusing on the complexities of human dreams, Farooki's model is a family of varying cultural identities, each adding their own longings, dreams and insecurities to a rich tapestry of contemporary life in London and in a distinctly unglamorous corner shop in a backstreet wasteland behind Hammersmith station. For years this shop has been the home-base of The Khalil family. The patriarch Zaki Khalil once dreamt of an unfettered life free from petty concerns, reminiscences and ambition, and unconcerned about the opinions of family, friends, or strangers. Now amidst the close-clutter of the corner shop, Zaki things of his youthful life in Paris and his dreams of being a Left Back intellectual. A hopeless romantic, Zaki once feel in love with Dhaka, an Indian village beauty who later died in a car accident in Paris When his father turned up insisting that Zaki annul his marriage. life for Zaki suddenly becomes a semi-arranged series of chess pieces, his father's instance that he his corner shop is a straight forward and uncoupling fate. "It's a life of his own one that he had actually chosen, not one that was arranged for me."

Meanwhile, Zaki's teenage grandson Lucky stares at his poster of Star Wars with a mixture of pride and sorrow and hopes that one day he will become a championship soccer player. Convinced that sporting fame is destiny, Lucky comes under the spell of the beautiful but rebellious Portia. Given the role of the keeper of small confidences and unhappy inner thoughts, Lucky is unsure and elated with his new intimacy. The story opens just as Lucky's conflicted mother Delphine chooses to confide in Zaki. Leading a life of privilege and married to Jinin, a swarthy and handsome Bengali with his gleaming cap of neatly cut hair, Delphine questions her commitment to Jinin and to her marriage.

Although Delphine's ambition has been sidelined, she still floats airily through the swish cafés and the smart shops of Knightsbridge wondering what to do with her life. Yet it is through Zaki that the delicate balance of her forlorn life unexpectedly shifts, her discontentment evaporating as she feels both expectant and happy. For it is Zaki, not Jinin who she is most attracted to and she becomes coldly aware that inside of herself that she no longer feels the same towards her husband. Delphine yearns for Zaki "the one that got away, that skipped out of the rat race"

Like an innocent pool reflecting a stormy sky, these characters are unaware of all the trouble that is soon to be unleashed by the choices they make. Even at a young age Lucky seems to be the most grounded as it looks as though he will finally get everything he ever wanted and become a famous footballer; achieving his dream so early in life. His overwhelming passion for Delphine and all the tenderness has always been tempered with caution. A novel that is full of all the different contexts of being human, and all of the permutations and prejudices that go with that, the author offers up the basic question: "Should I stay or should I go?" Farooki certainly captures the basic essence of the Khalil family, their fresh lust for life along with all of their insecurities and self-doubts (and disappointments). The novel is readable and enjoyable, and mostly quite charming, with realistic life-situations and believable dialog with colorful central London acting as a dramatic backdrop to all of the action. Yet somehow Corner Shop never rises above the mediocre or has enough of a gutsy plot even as Delphine is forced to realize where her true priorities lie and Zaki finds a surprising solace in Coco, an errant, red-haired and middle-aged rebel who suddenly sweeps him away to Las Vegas. Lucky and the trail of his courtship with Portia is however, quite lovely throughout, the romance proving to be an effective counterbalance in his efforts to become a respected star of the English soccer field. Mike Leonard March 09.