REVIEW - THE GO-BETWEEN: A Portrait of Growing Up Between Different Worlds by OSMAN YOUSEFZADA

 



 
The Go-Between provides a window into the Pakistani/Afghan Pashtun community living in Britain: a closed world in which women can’t leave their homes, where girls can’t be educated after the point of puberty (Osman’s own sisters were taken out of school at the age of eleven), where alternative masculinities are suppressed and where the pursuit of self-expression is forbidden.

In this coming-of-age story set in Birmingham in the 1980s and 1990s, British-born artist and renowned fashion designer, Osman Yousefzada, tells us about his own family living in a red-light district on the wrong side of the tracks. The adult world is seen through Osman's eyes as a child: the divide between the world of men and women, living cheek-by-jowl with other migrant communities. Children have to balance Western school teachings with cultural traditions and female erasure and honour-based violence are committed, even as empowering female friendships prevail.

The stories Osman tells, some fantastical, entertaining and funny, others moving and harrowing, take us from Birmingham to the banks of the river Kabul and the river Indus, and, eventually, to the London of Osman’s teenage years. As Osman weaves in and out of these worlds, struggling with the burdens of racism and family expectations, he is forced to realise it is no longer possible to exist in the spaces ‘in between’. 
 
 
MY REVIEW:
It can be a mixed bag when you read books for reviewing purposes. Don’t get me wrong, as a writer myself, there’s much to be gained by reading extensively and ploughing on with books you might not be crazy about. No such inhibition struck me however when reading The Go-between. It's excellent. 
 
I love memoirs and I love books about the city of my birth. The author lived close to where I still have family, so the descriptions of place were vivid to me. I also loved his minutely observed details of immigrant family life, the purdah his mother and sisters were kept in and the patriarchal sense of honour that kept the entire community in check - or not. I liked the stories of a young boy growing up essentially caught between two cultures. I rejoiced at him finding his own path in life. This is the story of first generation immigrants everywhere (I imagine). 
 
Cultural conflict notwithstanding, the most poignant segments were Osman’s appreciation of his mother's activities as dressmaker extraordinaire to her community. Even if she couldn't get out into the world, her neighbours came to her. Osman does not skate over the extreme restrictions that many women lived under (and still do) in their communities. Nor does he shirk from recounting his mother’s difficult early life and marriage when she first arrived. Eye-opening and moving in equal measure. This should be required reading in schools if it isn’t already. I’d love to read more about Osman's life. Hopefully, a sequel is in the works.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 
Osman Yousefzada was born in Birmingham in 1977 to parents who are illiterate in English and their mother tongue. He is a celebrated multi-disciplinary artist and world-famous fashion designer whose work provides a strong social commentary. He studied at SOAS and Central Saint Martins, and went on to do a Masters at Cambridge University. As well as being nominated for various fashion awards, Osman has been awarded the prestigious British Fashion Council NEWGEN award for three consecutive seasons. He has also been nominated for the Annual Designs of the Year Award at the Design Museum, and shortlisted for a Frieze Art Award. 
 
Osman’s fashion shows have taken place across the globe and his art practice has been exhibited internationally, from the Whitechapel Gallery and Lahore Biennale, to Mendes Wood Brussels and Dhaka Art Summit. He has also exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum, Design Museum London, Ringling Museum in Florida, and Cincinnati Art Museum in Ohio. His solo exhibition, ‘Being Somewhere Else’, which focused on the experience of migration, took place at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham in 2018. In 2021, Osman’s public installation covered the Selfridges Building in Birmingham. For the summer of 2022, Osman has been commissioned by the British Council as the lead multidisciplinary artist for the 75-year programming for Pakistani independence. This commission will involve a temporary architectural structure in London and a series of interactive activities in and around the public installation, with an opportunity to engage young people to curate events. 
 
Osman also curates a collaborative journal, The Collective, a cross-disciplinary publication featuring artists, writers and other creatives. The Osman fashion label is sold internationally and is worn by celebrities including Beyoncé, Lupita Nyong’o, Thandiwe Newton, Gwen Stefani, Emma Watson, Freida Pinto and many more. Osman proudly represents the empowerment of women, sustainability, diversity, and inclusivity.

 

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