Review of Belgrave Road by Manish Chauhan

Set on Leicester’s Belgrave Road, famous for its Indian restaurants and sari shops, this is an ambitious debut novel that tackles arranged marriage, immigration, trauma and, of course, love. 

Mira, a young Indian woman from a ‘low-caste’ Hindu family, steps off the plane to a rainy English January to marry a stranger. Despite the weather and her apprehensions around her arranged marriage, she is hopeful that Britain will bring her a better life. But, this hope is soon dashed when her new husband’s business is not quite the prosperous new start she was promised.

Tahliil’s arrival was vastly different. As a Somalian refugee, he came to England not by plane but by dinghy, and the trauma of the crossing doesn’t stop when he reaches land. 

When the two meet, romance blossoms but we also unlock a door to various stories from the immigrant community and the people they left behind. In this way, its an incredibly moving tale of overcoming hardships under impossible circumstances. Marketed as a love story between two people working side by side but living worlds apart yet ultimately, the novel feels like Manish Chauhan’s love letter to his home city, to Belgrave Road and the people who have faced so much to build their lives there.

Reviewed by Abi

Published on 29/01/26 by Faber & faber

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