3 Review(s)

Taking in its sights Matthew Arnold's 'land of dreams', the collection explores the idealism and reality of a multicultural Britain with wit, intelligence and no small sense of mischief. Nagra, whose own parents came to England from the Punjab in the 1950s, conjures a jazzed hybrid language to tell stories of aspiration, assimilation, alienation and love. By turns realist and romantic, these charged and challenging poems never shy from confrontation, but remain, always, touched by a humorous zeal and an appetite for living. This beautifully designed edition forms part of a series of ten titles celebrating Faber's publishing over the decades.