The Secret Lives of the Amir Sisters is the hilarious yet heartwarming debut novel from Nadiya Hussain, about an utterly dysfunctional but totally lovable family, exploring life, faith and identity as a second generation Bangladeshi in the UK.
Fatima (Fatti), Farah, Bubblee and Mae are the four sisters of the Amir family—the only Muslim family in the small village of Wyvernage. Though they appear happy, each sister is secretly struggling…
After failing her driving test for the fifteenth time, oldest sister Fatima is worrying about her place in the family. Plagued with insecurity over her weight and feelings of loneliness, she takes refuge in her room with her favourite snack: tubes of Primula cheese. The twins Farah and Bubblee, once close, now barely speak since Farah’s marriage to a man Bubblee disapproves of. Bubblee has moved to London, determined to make it as an artist and avoids her family as much as possible. Meanwhile Mae, the youngest, documents her family’s life on social media, much to their annoyance.
After an unexpected turn of events, Bubblee reluctantly returns to Wyvernage and finds that her mother is planning her marriage. Fatima learns a devastating family secret, which sends her to Bangladesh in an attempt to find a sense of belonging. And in the midst of this, Farah’s woes are spiralling, as she learns that the deep financial straits they’re in could result in her losing her home. As each sister struggles with life, love and faith, can they make peace with one another, pull together and help rebuild the family’s fortunes.
Nadiya Hussain is the universally loved winner of The Great British Bake Off in 2015. Since then, she has baked the Queen’s birthday cake, published a cookbook and a children’s book, fronted a BBC One documentary, The Chronicles of Nadiya and been named in Debretts 500 most influential people in the UK in 2016. Born in Luton, she now lives in Milton Keynes with her husband and three children.
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