The Boy With The Topknot

The Boy With The Topknot: A Memoir of Love, Secrets and Lies in Wolverhampton

TORN between two identities, Sathnam Sanghera, a successful London journalist from a Punjabi Sikh family takes a nostalgic yet challenging trip down memory lane, as he uncovers the truth about his family growing up in the 90’s in Wolverhampton.

This is one of my favourite books of all time. Even though it's been out for quite a while, it's still sitting proudly on a Waterstones shelf amongst local talented writers.

The book is written as a family memoir and engages the readers with how his family struggled and overcame taboo issues such as mental illness, illiteracy and domestic violence. Through exploring these personal issues, he has attempted to break these restrictive barriers within the Asian community. I have read this book a few times and each time there are strands of the narrative which can be related to-even if you're not Asian. For any British Asian growing up in Wolves, it allows you to visualise the characters in the book and their local surroundings.

Not forgetting the recurring arranged marriage system, in which Sathnam is sure that many of the readers may be able to relate to. I interviewed Sathnam when the book was first published. He revealed the deeper narrative which unfolds through each chapter.

One of the main strands within the book is the “us” and “them” notion which still exists today. He interweaves his own experiences with the hurdles his family had overcome. The clash of cultures sees Sathnam leave his swanky London flat behind for Wolverhampton, where his inspiration stemmed from for the heart of his story. Chapter by chapter, he reveals his secrets. It turns out that Jagjit Singh Sanghera, his father, is schizophrenic, as is Sathnam's older sister, Puli. The next secret is Sanghera's. "I'm going to type up a letter I've been drafting, in one way or another, for half a lifetime. When I'm done, I'm going to send it to someone in India who, for an almost unethically small fee, will translate it into a language I can speak and understand but cannot read or write ... [then] hand it over to the person I love more than any other and let the contents break her heart." He wants to tell his mother that the arranged marriage she desperately desires for him will never happen, not whilst he is wrapped up in his lies between his two lifestyles. It is a well-rounded story which makes you look at your own family closely whilst capturing the true essence of being a British Asian, growing up in Wolverhampton.