The debut novel from the award-winning screenwriter of 'Bhaji on the Beach'. The story of nine-year-old Meena, growing up in the only Punjabi family in the Black Country mining village of Tollington.

Blonde, sassy and rebellious, Anita Rutter is everything nine-year-old Meena wants to be. Growing up in the only Punjabi family in the village, Meena is desperate to break free from her parents. She wants fishfingers and chips, not chapati and dhal; she wants an English Christmas, not her family’s endless Diwali celebrations. And more than anything, she wants Anita to accept her into her gang.

But is a friendship with Anita Rutter really everything it seems?

A vivid portrait of a British childhood in the 1970s, Anita and Me is a novel rich with humour and compassion – a poignant story of immigration, adolescence and belonging.

The prizewinning coming-of-age novel about a young Indian girl in Northern England.

The debut novel from the award-winning screenwriter of Bhaji on the Beach. The story of nine-year-old Meena, growing up in the only Punjabi family in the Black Country mining village of Tollington. It's 1972. Meena is nine years old and lives in the village of Tollington, 'the jewel of the Black Country'. She is the daughter of Indian parents who have come to England to give her a better life. As one of the few Punjabi inhabitants of her village, her daily struggle for independence is different from most. She wants fishfingers and chips, not chapati and dhal; she wants an English Christmas, not the usual interminable Punjabi festivities - but more than anything, she wants to roam the backyards of working-class Tollington with feisty Anita Rutter and her gang. Blonde, cool, aloof, outrageous and sassy, Anita is everything Meena thinks she wants to be. Meena wheedles her way into Anita's life, but the arrival of a baby brother, teenage hormones, impending entrance exams for the posh grammar school and a motorcycling rebel without a future, threaten to turn Anita's salad days sour. Anita and Me paints a comic, poignant, compassionate and colourful portrait of village life in the era of flares, power cuts, glam rock, decimalisation and Ted Heath. It is a unique vision of a British childhood in the Seventies, a childhood caught between two cultures, each on the brink of change.

This poignant coming-of-age tale follows Meena, a young girl growing up in the only Punjabi family in a 1970s Black Country mining village. Meena spends her days happily getting into scrapes with the other local children until one day the impossibly cool Anita enters her life. Suddenly Meena knows exactly who she wants to be but is Anita all that she seems? Soon Meena's world is turned upside down as she is caught between two very different cultures. Anita and Me paints a comic, poignant, compassionate and colourful portrait of village life in the era of flares, power cuts, glam rock, decimalisation and Ted Heath. It has been adapted for the stage by the multi-award-winning Tanika Gupta.

Contains a sneak preview of Meera Syal's brand new novel, THE HOUSE OF HIDDEN MOTHERS There's no such thing as a happy ending , is there ...? Sunita - perfect housewife - is married to Akash, but is her marriage what it seems? Chila - warm, loveable - has married with great fanfare the entrepreneur Deepak. But are they really in love? Tania - beautiful, rebellious - has rejected her traditional upbringing for a top television career. But is she really as tough as she says? As Tania uncovers a devastating truth, are the three friends about to learn the hardest life lesson of all ...? MEERA SYAL, CBE, is one of our most acclaimed actors and writers. She starred in the hit series The Kumars at No. 42 and recently in the BBC film of David Walliams' The Boy in the Dress. She is currently in the latest series of Broadchurch Meera Syal is also known for her sharp, provocative fiction. Her debut novel is called Anita and Me. Life isn't all Ha Ha Hee Hee is her second acclaimed novel. Her brand new novel The House of Hidden Mothers is out now.

Matt Smith, Arthur Darvill and Meera Syal are among the readers of this exclusive collection of original audio adventures. Join the Eleventh Doctor on journeys in Time and Space in the stories The Runaway Train by Oli Smith; The Ring of Steel by Stephen Cole; The Jade Pyramid by Martin Day; The Hounds of Artemis by James Goss; The Gemini Contagion by Jason Arnopp; Eye of the Jungle by Darren Jones; Blackout by Oli Smith; The Art of Death by James Goss; Darkstar Academy by Mark Morris; Day of the Cockroach by Steve Lyons; The Nu-Humans by Cavan Scott & Mark Wright; The Empty House by Simon Guerrier; Sleepers in the Dust by Darren Jones; and Snake Bite by Scott Handcock. The readers are Matt Smith; Arthur Darvill; Clare Corbett; Meera Syal; David Troughton; Stuart Milligan; Raquel Cassidy; Alexander Armstrong and Frances Barber. Duration: 15 hours approx.

'Dazzling. Intense and gritty at times, sparkling and hilarious at others. I found it absorbing, witty, joyous and moving...and that's all I really want from a book!' - JO BRAND 'Warm and witty' Sunday Times 'The gifted Syal does it again' Indpendent HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO GET THE LIFE YOU CAN'T HAVE? Shyama, aged forty-eight, has fallen for a younger man. They want a child together. Meanwhile, in a rural village in India, young Mala, trapped in an oppressive marriage, dreams of escape. When Shyama and Mala meet, they help each other realise their dreams. But will fate guarantee them both happiness?... Brimming with warmth, wit and indignation, Meera Syal immerses us in a devastating story of friendship, family and the lengths we will go to have a perfect life. THE HOUSE OF HIDDEN MOTHERS is her long-awaited third novel and shows Meera Syal at the height of her literary powers 'Brilliant. It is destined to be a bestseller.' - ESTHER FREUD

Meer Syal has created an indelible portrait of a close-knit group of Indian women living in London. Caught between two cultures, three childhood friends—Chila, Sunita, and Tania—are expected to revert to being obedient mothers and wives. But their world explodes when Tania makes a documentary, starring Chila and Sunita, about contemporary urban Indian Life. The result is an unforgettable story of friendship, marriage, betrayal, and the difficult choices woman face.

This brilliant new collection of ten plays for young people will prove indispensable to schools, colleges and youth theatre groups. Specially commissioned by the National Theatre for the Connections Festival 2012 involving 200 schools and youth theatre groups across the UK and Ireland, each play is accompanied by production notes and exercises. Power struggles, rites of passage, love and forbidden relationships are some of the rich themes that run through the 2012 cycle of plays. Some are deeply funny, some are provocative and some reflective; and one has really catchy songs! For the 2012 Festival, the anthology has an international feel and offers a window on the world. It includes from Australia a play based on a nineteenth century court case in which a teenage girl was falsely convicted; from Brazil a drama about young lovers doomed to tragedy; set in Russia, a play exploring differing attitudes to National Service and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991; a drama about students' rights to an education and the Cultural Revolution of 1966 in China; and a comedy involving a group of Irish country girls travelling to London to audition for the X-Factor.