The Right Sort of Girl: The Sunday Times Bestseller Paperback – 21 July 2022

I read this very personal story after reading Anita’s first novel ‘Baby does a runner’ and being intrigued by the energy and life experience that fuels such a great author. This autobiography lead me on a journey of discovery that taught me much and also made me angry as Anita shares with her readers the background and history of her Punjabi family and how that fuels the amazing person she is. My anger comes from my ignorance of just how generally bad was colonialism - and how specifically the devastation and horror of Partition in1947. Yes I knew the basic facts but not the devastating, ongoing generational scarring truth that she has now given me. Why did I not know this before - why did my education evade the guilt and why did I not challenge my history syllabus more?Thank you Anita - and more please - Miss Bird was so right.

I enjoyed reading about Anita's Pakistani family life and how she sometimes felt that she didn't 'fit' in.... with the mix of two cultures. I don't often read biographies but this was interesting and peppered with humour- not too much, just the right amount. I recommend it and it's easy to read as well.

Anita Rani has been a popular and familiar on television for the past twenty years, gracing many programmes including wOmens Hour, Country file, Watchdog, Strictly Come Dancing, and much, much more.This is my third book of recently read biographies from British Indians. Many of the chapters are similar and deal with pressures on the Indian women such as being a girl in a system which historically has not been kind, racism, arranged marriage, abuse, Indian cooking, and the difficulties and struggles of being a brown face in British society.Anita Rani also comes across as being more integrated into Western culture and this book also has a great deal to say about music, entertainment, and being a punjab girl rebelling against the norms and expectations of the Indian subculture in the UK.This book was eye opening and fascinating, very easy to read and a delight, and I rate it 5/5.

I love books - all types of books but this book? This book felt like it was talking about me.From the family trauma, from the feeling of always being the ‘other’ one, from the fear of letting your parents down, to the realisation that you will never be society’s preferred sort of girl - but you are the right sort of girl for you. It was enlightening.I am 32 y/o so much of the path of realisation that Anita (or Nitu should I say) has gone through, I too have already experienced. I will however purchase this book and recommend it to every south asian teen girl I can think of. This book would have been a life bible for me at that age.

I like Anita Rani a lot. The book feels very 'authentically' her - not like something written by a ghostwriter.The problem is, I rather over-estimated how interested I was in her life. I read 4 other books in the time I put off finishing this one.

Exactly as it says on the tin! A thoroughly rivetting read from the author - her first book - providing an insight into her teenage years and that rebel in her that says she wasn't going to conform to what was expected of her (or she was but all the while plotting her escape to the bright lights and nightclubs and a future in music and broadcasting). What a belter of a book.

Although overall extremely interesting I would have liked more about both her early life and her family.

East is East comes to mind and I can see this book being made into a film. It is funny , a great example of the time. A wonderful description of East meets West , Anita doesn’t hold back, she is honest to the point of sadness in some cases. It describes the hard working Indian fraternity who never seem to get any praise for their strength and fortitude in a difficult society.I loved the book it’s a credit to her.