Overview

Billy Elliot meets Bend It Like Beckham in this unforgettable debut about aiming high and defying expectation the perfect uplit read this year. Joyful, defiant and dazzling, this is the story of Rafi Aziz a Northern boy dreaming of his name up in lights. It's 1981 in the suburbs of Blackburn and, as Rafi's mother reminds him daily, the family moved here from Pakistan to give him the best opportunities. But Rafi longs to follow his own path. Flamboyant, dramatic and musically gifted, he wants to be a Bollywood star. Twenty years later, Rafi is flying home from Australia for his best friend's wedding. He has everything he ever wanted: starring roles in musical theatre, the perfect boyfriend and freedom from expectation. But returning to Blackburn is the ultimate test: can he show his true self to his community? Navigating family and identity from boyhood to adulthood, as well as the changing eras of ABBA, skinheads and urbanisation, Rafi must follow his heart to achieve his dreams.

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9781800183148

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Reviews

'What a joyful tale. A Blackburn Bollywood Billy Elliot' Patrick Grant ‘Billy Elliot meets Bollywood in this novel steeped in nostalgic detail yet completely fresh and new. I adored it. I laughed and cried and nodded my head in recognition. If it doesn’t get a movie deal there is no justice' Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things 'Incredibly moving . . . The fundamental premise is about being true to yourself. So powerful for any of us from a South Asian heritage background . . . There's so much that I loved . . . This is big screen stuff' Farzana Chaudry, BBC Three Counties Radio 'This book had my heart from the first page. What an absolute gem of a read. Funny, frank and full of energy' Jen Bowden, Northern Voices podcast 'A stunning exploration of one young boy’s experience of refusing to conform . . . this book is close to perfection, not least because the balance of humour and pathos is spot on' Bookaholic Bex, blogger

‘Billy Elliot meets Bollywood in this novel steeped in nostalgic detail yet completely fresh and new. I adored it. I laughed and cried and nodded my head in recognition. If it doesn’t get a movie deal there is no justice' Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things

Author Information

Iqbal Hussain is a writer from Blackburn, Lancashire and he lives in London. His work appears in various anthologies and on websites including The Willowherb Review, The Hopper and caughtbytheriver. He is a recipient of the inaugural London Writers' Awards 2018 and he won Gold in the Creative Future Writers' Awards 2019. In 2022, he won first prize in Writing Magazine's Grand Flash competition and was joint runner-up in the Evening Standard Short Story Competition. In 2023, his story 'I'll Never Be Young Again' won first prize in the Fowey Festival of Arts and Literature short story competition. He was also Highly Commended in the Emerging Writer Award from The Bridge Award.

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