NEWLY RELEASED novel The Balloon Thief cleverly combines a fantasy world and real life to tell an intriguing story of a girl’s literal and metaphorical journey towards friendship, freedom and finding a safe place in the world.
The dynamic debut book from Aneesa Marufu also tackles important themes that include terrorism, extremism and racism in a unique way, with writing that draws inspiration from her heritage and contemporary literature. The young adult (YA) adventure story of a girl finding escape in a hot-air balloon is the beginning of a literary journey for the prize-winning young author from Manchester.
Eastern Eye caught up with her to discuss her book, the key message she wants to convey, writing and inspirations.
What would you say first connected you to creative writing?
Definitely the escapism. Creative writing gives you an ability to construct a whole new world with just a pen and paper, and the power of your mind. There really are no rules or limits to what you can create, and that’s why it’s so much fun.
What inspired the story of your book?
My own experiences with racism and Islamophobic bullying as a teenager are what inspired the themes of racism, extremism and terrorism in the book. Growing up as a British Pakistani and a Muslim, I often felt like I never quite fitted in. I didn’t know where I belonged and didn’t feel wholly accepted by society. I wanted to write a book that tackled these issues in a fantasy world, where I would be free to explore these themes without the constraints of the real world.
Her new book
Tell us about the book?
The Balloon Thief is a south Asian-inspired YA fantasy that focuses on main characters – Khadija and Jacob – from two opposing races and their battle for friendship in a racially segregated society. The book would be suited to fans of Noughts and Crosses, The City of Brass and We Hunt the Flame.
Are any elements or emotions in it based on real life?
Two key elements in the book are identity and loneliness. The Balloon Thief is about finding one’s place in the world and discovering the power of an individual to spark change. It is also about finding acceptance and companionship. Feeling like you belong within your environment and among your peers is very important.
What is your favourite part of the book?
It would have to be the point where both characters realise they are more than just what society expects of them. They claim their own power and take charge of their own destinies, and in doing so, discover more about themselves.
Who are you hoping will connect with this book?
I imagine it will connect with readers who may feel a bit lost. They may feel like they don’t know where they belong or what their purpose is in the world. They might feel they are too small and insignificant to make a difference, and I hope The Balloon Thief can be the inspiration that proves this is not the case.
Is there a key message you want to convey with this story?
As the story unfolds, the characters learn to put their differences aside to tackle a greater threat, and in doing so learn the power of friendship and forgiveness. That really is the key message. I wanted to show that the world is not so black and white, that people are often the product of their environment and life experiences. However, I wanted to show with this story that love and friendship can, and do, prevail.
Did you learn anything new while writing it?
Writing a book is a lot like constructing a building. There is no point feeling upset that the scaffolding looks ugly (and I have produced some ugly first drafts). Editing is where the polishing and refining takes place, and that is what produces the final result.
Have you flown in a hot-air balloon yet?
No, I haven’t, but it is definitely a bucket list dream of mine.
What do you enjoy reading and do you have a favourite book?
I don’t think I can commit to just one favorite book. There are so many that hold a special place in my heart, whether they have made me laugh, cry or both. Books that have stayed with me are The Kite Runner, Eragon and The Inkheart series. I read very widely across fiction and non-fiction, adult, and YA, though fantasy will always be my favourite genre to read.
What can we expect next from you?
There may or may not be a sequel to The Balloon Thief in the works. I am working on another fantasy standalone, which I can’t say too much about. The only thing to expect is that similar to The Balloon Thief, it’s another YA fantasy drawing from the myths and magic of another culture.
What inspires you?
So many things – books, movies, dreams, people I see in the street, the weather, a smell, a colour. It can be literally anything that can cause inspiration to strike. That’s why I’m always pulling up my notes app on my phone and jotting down random ideas as they come to my mind. You never know what might spark the idea of a whole new world.
What were you feeling before the publication of the book?
Equal parts excited and nervous. It is a lot like the feeling of riding a rollercoaster. For me, the build-up to publication seems to have been going on for years, from when I signed with my agent to learning that my book was going to be published. It has been a long journey, and all those years of hard work is what will make seeing the book finally published and out on the shelves that much more rewarding.
Why should we pick up the book?
If you like reading fantasy and you want to be transported to a new world of jinn, magic and hot-air balloons, with characters that you can’t help rooting for, even the bad ones and ones who have been led astray, then I would definitely give The Balloon Thief a try.
Twitter: @aneesamarufu and Instagram: @aneesa.marufu
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A seated Jain enlightened teacherAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Ganesha from JavaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Chinese silk painting depicting the BuddhaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
ArdhanarishvaraAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Head of a grimacing yakshaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
NagaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Bimaran casketAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Hunia Chawla
A still from rehearsal
Them performing liveNajmuddin Saifuddin Qawwal Group
The cast of Marriage Material in key moments from the play, including Avita Jay, Kiran Landa, Omar Malik, Irfan Shamji and Anoushka Deshmukh
Sathnam Sanghera’s 'Marriage Material' adapted into bold new play on conformity
The play Marriage Material at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre is Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s adaptation of Sathnam Sanghera’s novel of the same name, which first came out in 2013.
She is lucky to have Iqbal Khan direct Marriage Material. The play, a co-production with the Birmingham Rep, is set in the late 1960s. Mr and Mrs Bains (played by Jaz Singh Deol and Avita Jay) run a corner shop in Wolverhampton. Their younger daughter, Surinder (Anoushka Deshmukh), is 16, her sister Kamaljit (Kiran Landa) is just a bit older.
They have a neighbour, Patwant Dhanda (Irfan Shamji), who, as we shall soon see, is not a very pleasant man. In fact, he comes across just as racist as Enoch Powell, who represented Wolverhampton South West for the Tories from 1950 to 1974.
It will be recalled this was a time when Sikhs working on the buses were told they couldn’t wear a turban. That was a hard-fought battle that had to be won.
The Bains, meanwhile, simply want to get their girls married off.
Nothing new here, I thought.
What makes the tale different is that the plot twists and turns down the generations. Mr Dhanda, who has the makings of a paedophile, makes a pitch for one of the girls when Mr Bains dies early in the play. “A life with no man in the house is no life,” he informs the newly widowed Mrs Bains.
Mr Dhanda has a wife but she has returned to India so he considers himself to be a free man.
Surinder’s English teacher from school, Miss Flanagan (Celeste Dodwell), who is also head of the fifth form, tells Mrs Bains about her daughter: “I don’t want to embarrass you, but she is bright. Ridiculously bright.”
She adds: “Mrs Bains, I think it would be a pity if Surinder didn’t stay on at school.” The initial response from Mrs Bains is not encouraging: “Too much education makes people’s brains get mixed up, they don’t sleep at night…”
But she is finally persuaded that Surinder should be allowed to stay on for a while longer before being married off.
Mr Bains was very old school. When Surinder confides she would one day like to be “a somebody”, he is amused that “my daughter wants to be a somebody”.
“Like you,” she tells her father.
Mr Bains consoles his daughter: “We will find a somebody for you to marry.”
At the point of a possible marriage, however, Surinder is sweet-talked by chocolate salesman Jim Wilson (Tommy Belshaw) into running away with him. They share a love of literature, and he calls her “Sue Bains”. But the relationship does not end well.
Once she has left, Surinder is written off as “dead” by her family. The story that is circulated is that she was only 16 when she was killed in a car crash. That’s better than to let on that she ran off with a white man.
By the time she is reconciled with her sister towards the end of the play, a great deal has changed. Kamaljit married Tanvir Banga (Omar Malik), a young man who helped out in the Bains’ corner shop. When the two sisters meet again, Tanvir has also died. But he and Kamaljit had a son, Arjan Banga (Jaz Singh Deol doubles up for this role after the death of Mr Bains). He has come home after his father’s death to help his mother who is still running the family corner shop.
Meanwhile, Mr Dhanda’s business has prospered. He now has a son, Ranjit Dhanda (the role is taken by Omar Malik after Tanvir’s death), and he is nearly as unpleasant as his father.
Arjan has an English fiancée, Claire (Celeste Dodwell). In London, Arjan worked as a creative director. But after deciding to stay in Wolverhampton to help his mother, he decides he cannot marry Claire because she is white. In other words, Asians are not free of racism, either. Happily, at the end, the couple are reconciled.
As for Surinder, she parted company with Jim Wilson after realising he was all talk, depended on her for money and had failed to earn a penny from his literary pretensions. She had prospered, though, as a hotel owner and had been transformed in time into a well-groomed businesswoman. After being tracked down by Arjan, she decides to return to her roots in Wolverhampton and help Kamaljit run the family corner shop. Perhaps 50 years had passed during the passage of the play.
Being subjected to racism turned some Asians into racists themselves. The word goreh (white person) is repeatedly spat out with venom. Maybe it is worth remembering the play’s audience isn’t exclusively Asian – white folk are watching as well. And maybe some of the toilet humour ridiculing white people, which always makes me cringe, could be cut out.
In Sanghera’s novel, there is a quote from Enoch Powell’s speech in November 1968: “The West Indian or Asian does not, by being born in England, become an Englishman. In law he becomes a United Kingdom citizen by birth; in fact, he is a west Indian or an Asian still... he will by the very nature of things have lost one country without gaining another, lost one nationality without acquiring a new one. Time is running out against us and them. With the lapse of a generation or so we shall at last have succeeded – to the benefit of nobody – in reproducing ‘in England’s green and pleasant land’ the haunting tragedy of the US.”
In Marriage Material, where the acting is marvellous (apart from Mr Dhanda’s Indian mannerisms and accent being overdone) we do travel across a couple of generations.
There is a scene when Tanvir rejects Mr Dhanda’s vision of creating a little Punjab in Wolverhampton.
Mr Dhanda wants to take over the Bains’ corner shop and is putting pressure on Tanvir to sign the papers. He says: “In this country, money is the path to freedom.”
“Sign, please,” he instructs Tanvir. “We must make sure our children learn to behave nicely, according to our rules.”
He insists: “We maintain our identity so we can be ourselves.”
Tanvir disagrees: “We can be us here. With the goreh.”
Dhanda warns him: “Then we will be inviting chaos.”
Tanvir’s comment is telling: “You sound like Enoch.”
Kamaljit, who is expecting a baby with her husband Tanvir, says: “I would like my child to grow up knowing the history of the Gurus and to read the Granth Sahib. And to love their culture.”
Tanvir tells his wife: “I would like my child to go to the finest schools, to cheer for England in the World Cup and eat Yorkshire pudding on a Sunday.”
Kamaljit sets out a dream that has perhaps come to pass with many third and fourth generation British Asians: “Maybe our child can do both.” Much, much later, in a throwback to the past, we learn of Surinder’s O-level results: “Biology A, Chemistry A, English Language A, English Literature A, French A, History B, Latin A, Mathematics A, Physics A…”
Kamaljit tells her younger sister: “Never mind about the B.”
And that is quintessentially Asian. Their acting is outstanding.
Marriage Material is at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre until June 21, and at the Birmingham Rep from June 25-July 5