A review by beate251
In Case of Emergency by Poorna Bell

emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Bel Kumar, 36, gets a wake-up call when she survives a fall down a deep hole and her ICE contact is her ex from four years ago because she has lost touch with family and friends. So she starts reconnecting with her parents, sister Devi, niece Karen and a gang of old friends. There are lots of flashbacks to 20 years back to find out what went wrong back then to make her lose touch with her friends Ama, Ling and Marina (only one of which is white).

Bel is in advertising and has nothing but disdain for a Diversity & Inclusion project at work which she deems virtue signalling. She tries to help to make it relevant but the project is ultimately led by white people who don't understand the importance of it in terms of value to the company.  

This is very much a novel about racism, about what it means to grow up brown in England, to have immigrant parents who come here to give you more choices only to expect you to make the same choices they did, and that a careless remark from 20 years ago can still sting today. There is a lot about family, female friendship and forgiveness but there is no real romance in the book - get over it.

Poorna Bell is a wonderful storyteller, and this is such a complex story.
Bell concentrates on the women in the story - Bel's overprotective mother, her older sister who is going through a divorce, her niece who tackles her Indian heritage head-on, and her former BFF Ama, who has come out gay and is about to marry. 
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