Yet when family tragedy strikes, it brings the Amir sisters closer together and forces them to learn more about life, love, faith and each other than they ever thought possible. Ward, Rachel (8 October 2015). "The Great British Bake Off 2015: the final – Nadiya crowned winner". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 9 October 2015. The difference now having written my memoir is that I feel like the scars are all there, but I can still be the person behind a perfectly polished countertop, with a perfect cake, smiling with joy in my eyes. That's who I am. But the reality is it's not who I am all the time. We can be two versions of ourselves. What I've learnt over the last few years is to be happy with every part of me, whether it be the beautiful bits or the broken bits. It's all me. Rumbelow, Helen (9 August 2016). "Originally my headscarf was probably to cover up my bad hair more than anything else". The Sunday Times . Retrieved 21 July 2017.

Heart-warming storytelling with strong themes of sisterhood from nation’s favourite and former Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain, this is Little Women meets Marian Keyes’ Walsh family series for a new generation of readers. Like the rest of us, Nadiya has been using TVfor a bit of escapism. Unlike the rest of us, herchoices haven’t been the feel-good films we’vewatched in our thousands to lift our mood. ‘Ilook for things that are more depressing thanour current situation,’ she laughs, ‘and when Iwatch them, it makes me feel good. The Split onBBC makes you so grateful for everything aboutyour life. So does ITV’s Liar. Saying that, we alsospend a lot of time watching Disney movies.’ Firstly, let me make clear my bias. I am a lover of The Great British Bakeoff, and I'm still upset about the changes to the show coming for the next series and don't know how I feel about it, and one of our family favourites from the show was Nadiya, my Dad called it right at the start, he thought there was something about her and sure enough he was right. When I saw this book at the library there was very little chance I wasn't going to love it.My mum always tells me, “You mustn’t tellpeople what I do – it’s embarrassing for you,”’she says. ‘She thinks I’ve got this high-flying jobin the public eye, and I couldn’t possibly talkabout her cleaning linen, but I’m really proud ofwhat she does. And while I want her to be athome, safe and protected from this virus, shehas to do her job. It’s not about her being ahero or keeping the country running, it’s a jobshe needs so she can get paid. Both my parentshave always worked hard [Nadiya’s father wasa chef]. My mum works long hours, comeshome and then cooks eight curries – I don’treally know why or who’s going to eat them.She says, “Shall I send some Tupperware over toyour house and leave it by the door?” I’m like,“No, you’re grounded, you cannot go outside.No Dad, you can’t go out to buy fags,” but theydon’t listen. My parents are now the teenagers.’ If you want to read warm-hearted sagas about second-generation immigration, Meera Syal is a wonderful novelist. If you want to read a brilliant book about four sisters, Little Women is still in print. If you like sisters and cooking, try the marvellous Like Water for Chocolate. Or read Ayisha Malik’s book: it’s huge fun. What’s the book like? It’s perfectly competent, as well it should be, as the “helper or “consultant” or whatever we’re supposed to call them these days is the highly talented Ayisha Malik, author of the funny and sparky Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged, a smart and acerbic romcom about a young woman writing a book on Muslim dating. I can and I will': the best acceptance speeches ever". The Guardian. 8 October 2015 . Retrieved 20 December 2015. On 25 December, Hussain made a cameo appearance in the BBC One show Michael McIntyre's Big Christmas Show recorded at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. [35] 2016: The Chronicles of Nadiya [ edit ]

a b c "Great British Bake Off's Nadiya Hussain Lands Her Own Cooking Show". HuffPost . Retrieved 23 February 2017. Great British Bake Off: More than 10 million tune in to first episode". The BBC . Retrieved 26 April 2016. I may be the only one, but I honestly thought of "The Secret Lives of the Amir Sisters" as a modern-day, Muslim version of "Little Women". Not the plot, but the characters have similarities. The Amir sisters are like Bangladeshi copies of the March sisters in certain aspects of their character and personality. There's sensible and reliable Farah - she may not be the eldest, but she's the most mature and the first to get married - much like Meg March. Free-spirited, outspoken, feminist Bubblee has a zealous character so alike Jo March, and they are both dedicated to pursuing their art - for Jo it is her writing, for Bubblee it is her paintings, sculptures and other physical art forms. Then there's sweet, kind-hearted Fatima. She reminded me so much of Beth March with her gentle, loving nature. Also, while Beth suffered from a physical illness, Fatima's turmoil is mental. Lastly, the youngest Amir sister and the youngest March sister. They are both the most integrated in society and most socially conscious. Something about the personalities of Mae Amir and Amy March are indistinguishable (also both their names are only three letters lol). In The Secret Lives of the Amir Sisters there are four sisters: a caring homebody Meg-from- Little Women type in Farah; a housebound fragile Beth in Fatima; a free-spirited artistic Jo in Bubblee; and a troublesome mischievous youngest Amy in Mae. I was hoping for insights into a culture I don’t understand as well as I’d like, but the main thrust, overall, is that big noisy religious families are all more or less the same, which, while undoubtedly true, didn’t add much for this Irish/Italian Catholic. But does she really need to put her name to a novel, too, when there’s only so much shelf space to go around?I always found marriage between cousins as rather... odd, even though it's a common aspect of my culture. It's because I cannot possibly imagine marrying any of my own cousins. That idea is, like Mae would say, vom. But this book makes it work. And I found Farah and Mustafa's relationship endearing and realistic. Nadiya Hussain is a British baker, columnist, author and television presenter. The Secret Lives of the Amir Sisters is her debut novel. On 13 August 2016, Hussain appeared as guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, [58] and was interviewed by Kirsty Young. She opened up about her struggles as a young mother, the social isolation suffered by some Muslim women and how her confidence grew during Bake-Off. She described the racial abuse she still receives on the street and, determined to be a good role model to her children, how she responds with the "dignity of silence". [15] [59] [60] Nadiya Hussain: 'My childhood holiday memories mean I can never take clean water for granted'", WaterAid, 1 August 2016. Griffiths, Emmy (7 July 2017). "Nadiya Hussain stars in new trailer for BBC show Nadiya's British Food Adventure". Hello . Retrieved 27 May 2018.