The Secret Lives of the Amir Sisters: the debut heart warming women’s fiction novel from the much-loved winner of Great British Bake Off, the first book in the Amir Sisters series

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There are 4 Amir sisters, Fatima, Farah and Bubblee, the twins and Mae, the youngest. They all live completely different lives, with Fatima still living with her parents, although spending her life largely hiding in her room and emerging only to eat badly and fail her driving test. Farah lives nearby with her husband with whom she has just found out she can’t have children, but hasn’t told her parents who are desperate for grandchildren. Bubblee has escaped their town to London, where she is living the life of an artist, waiting for her breakthrough and wondering why her twin has settled for a boring, mundane existence. Mae is the youngest and documents everything for a school project. Ransom, Jessica (19 February 2019). "Nadiya Hussain Time To Eat: Everything you need to know about Nadiya's new show". GoodtoKnow . Retrieved 26 February 2019.

Nadiya is also a writer and author. She is a contributing editor to UK’s biggest food channel BBC’s Good Food and writes a monthly column for The Times Magazine. She was previously also a columnist for Essentials magazine. Not only this, but her recipes have also been featured in The Guardian, The Telegraph, and Good Food’s magazine.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. The Amir sisters are all very different people, and the narrative is split into all four of the sisters, for a chapter focusing on each at a time. The one thing they all have in common is they don't tell their parent's everything and all seem just a bit frustrated about how their brother appears to be the favourite at all times, despite being male. a b "Icing on the cake for Yorkshire's own Nadiya – she's baking for Queen's 90th birthday". The Yorkshire Post. 15 April 2016 . Retrieved 15 April 2016.

Furthermore, she is the author of her 2019 autobiography, titled Finding My Voice and the novel The Secret Lives of the Amir Sisters, which she wrote with the help of author Ayisha Malik. 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. Nadiya has opened up about the sexual abuse she suffered as a child and her suicide attempt aged 10, and written about them in her memoir Finding My Voice. In a 2020 interview, she explained how these experiences have shaped who she is today: "Our past and experiences are the things we always carry around with us. For such a long time I tried to smile, wear colourful clothes and ignore the fact that those scars were there.

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I didn't enjoy my time with this novel despite wanting to like it. Hoping it would be fab. The author has no doubt put heart and soul into it (it does say it's written with another person at the front of the book?) but in comparison to much other women's fiction read this one didn't delight me one bit. 2 stars for what was a mediocre read. I'm interested to see how the public receive this book as more read it. I'm not the only one to find big parts of it dull so far.

This book is told from the perspective of the four Amir Sisters, Fatima, Farah, Bubblee and Mae, they live in a cute little English village, Wyvernage (I am assuming this is a made up village) the girls are four of the five children of Immigrant Bangladeshi parents who made the move to England when their eldest daughter Fatima was a baby. They are the only Bangladeshi's in the neighbourhood and have done there best to fit in. The 2016 chart of the Top 100 Food & Drink books by book sales, compiled by industry analysts Nielsen, placed Hussain's books Nadiya's Kitchen and Bake Me A Story in third and fourth place, respectively. [72] Bagwell, Matt (28 June 2017). "Ariana Grande, Adele And Gogglebox Among Nominees at the 2017 Diversity in Media Awards". HuffPost UK . Retrieved 29 September 2022. Their parents are rather traditional, and arguably stereotypical, especially when it comes to constantly trying to make sure their daughters get married or have children. Early on I noticed I was giggling quite often at the dialogue, and I really enjoyed reading a family experience that is so different in some respects to my own, but equally that I could see some big similarities with my own religion. a b Hawkes, Rebecca (24 August 2016). "11 inspiring things that Nadiya Hussain has done since winning the Great British Bake Off". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 25 August 2016.

Arranged marriage

Welsh, Daniel (13 November 2015). " 'Great British Bake Off' Winner Nadiya Hussain Lands Weekly Cookery Role in the Times Magazine". HuffPost . Retrieved 13 November 2015.