Summary

Summary The novel Sumira’s story is about the Patel family who is actually from India, but living in Uganda. One day the President of Uganda is saying that all people that haven’t roots in the country, must leave it. The Patel family of six, two parents and four girls children, decided to immigrate and settle down in England. They had to start their life all over again. The new language is a main problem for them all. The new culture and tradition is also a problem for them especially for the parents. The children learned the new language at the school, but their parents didn’t try to learn some English and just talked Hindu. Sumitra become friends with some white people, but her father refuses her to be with them since they have a skin tone bleacher, and he thoughts was that the English/white people was criminal or nice. She hates her father for it because she knew they all weren’t like that. So she wanted rather mixes these two kind of human together. Then it hadn’t been any question and all sorts of human in the earth were equal, she thought. When she’s growing up with all these experiences, she finds herself forced to lead a double life.

Sumitra’s story is told in a 3rd person, which means that we know how the persons in the book look like, and that we also are seeing the thoughts and feelings of the main character, Sumitra. We can also call it a fly on the wall that sees and feels.

The story takes place in the early 70’s and is in a period of seven years. From Sumitra is eleven years to eighteen years old. It starts when she is eleven years old in Uganda and ends when she is eighteen in England. The progression of the book is like it starts with the beginning when we get to know the characters and what this is about. Then in the middle the conflict and tension of what is going on, but the book stops abruptly. Maybe it will come a second one sometimes? I dearly hope so. It seems like the novel was written when the huge segregation of black and white was seen all over the world. The novel takes up questions about racism that are very relevant for all sorts of humans. Why people is black and white, what the difference between these and why people can hate other people with another colour of their skin. The whole story is constantly remaining the readers of these important things.

The author Rukshana Smith has based this novel on the experiences of a friend she met while she lived in a Unit for Homeless Families. Her friend was a young Asian just like the main character, Sumitra. Rukshana is daughter of refugees from Eastern Europe and most of her books are, just like Sumitra’s story, about immigrants experience and exile.