Northern Boy by Iqbal Hussain
It's 1981 in the suburbs of Blackburn and, as Rafi’s mother reminds him daily, the family moved here from Pakistan to give him the best opportunities. But Rafi longs to follow his own path. Flamboyant, dramatic and musically gifted, he wants to be a Bollywood star.
Twenty years later, Rafi is flying home from Australia for his best friend’s wedding. He has everything he ever wanted: starring roles in musical theatre, the perfect boyfriend and freedom from expectation. But returning to Blackburn is the ultimate test: can he show his true self to his community?
Navigating family and identity from boyhood to adulthood, as well as the changing eras of ABBA, skinheads and urbanisation, Rafi must follow his heart to achieve his dreams.
About the author
Iqbal Hussain is a writer from Blackburn, Lancashire and he lives in London. His work appears in various anthologies and on websites including The Willowherb Review, The Hopper and caughtbytheriver.
He is a recipient of the inaugural London Writers’ Awards 2018 and he won Gold in the Creative Future Writers’ Awards 2019. In 2022, he won first prize in Writing Magazine’s Grand Flash competition and was joint runner-up in the Evening Standard Short Story Competition. In 2023, his story ‘I’ll Never Be Young Again’ won first prize in the Fowey Festival of Arts and Literature short story competition. He was also Highly Commended in the Emerging Writer Award from The Bridge Award. Northern Boy is his first novel.
Review
‘Northern Boy’ is an exquisite book that filled my heart full of joy! This is a debut novel and an accomplished one at that. Does it have the same themes as ‘Billy Elliot’, yes it does but to say that I think is derivative as this is Rafi’s story. A story which is uplifting if at times confronting. A love story to his family and a love story to being true to one's self.
Rafi is a young asian boy growing up in a terrace house in Blackburn. He loves to sing and dance, perform Bollywood songs and belt out Abba at the top of his voice. He knows he is different but he doesn't mind in fact he is determined to embrace it, even if his family doesn't approve. But when his culture doesn't even have the vocabulary to describe what he is, what hope does he have.
This is a story that is told in three parts. The first section combines Rafi travelling to Blackburn from Australia and his reminiscing about his childhood. The middle section is his time in Blackburn and the final part sees him once again back home with his family. I loved the chapters which dealt with Rafi growing up, sitting between two cultures and struggling to form his own identity. These chapters had a definite voice and clear identity. However, in the present day I found it hard to like Rafi at times as he is stubborn and rude to those around him.
Despite the joy and brightness contained in this novel it also deals with some dark topics and politics from the era. We see how the area and the mills are being decimated by Thatcher’s policies, it deals with identity and sexuality, AIDs and so much more. Yes, it has an innocence but underneath that, there is a nuanced narrative. There are also some heart-wrenching scenes with his family and they really do pack a punch and bring a tear to this reader's eye. I flew through the whole book in one day as I was engrossed by Rafi and his fight for his identity.
Let me know if you pick this one up!
