I’m trying to find a book I remember reading as a teenager, where a girl volunteers to teach English to an older Asian (Indian/ Pakistani) woman.
- I read it between 1988 and 1995.
- Think it’s set in London in the 80s.
- The main character (possibly called Julie) volunteers to English to immigrants, and is assigned an older Asian woman.
- She may have been told she had to do the volunteering role (a school thing?)
- Her family is racist, and she might not have told them what she’s doing has they wouldn’t approve.
- Her brother gets involved in a skinhead/ National Front type group during the book.
- She becomes less racist and more critical of her family’s racist attitudes during the book.
- She meets and starts to fall for the woman’s grandson, but this isn’t the main focus of the story.
- The book ends with her and the grandson being attacked by her brother’s gang, and I remember a description of snow at the end.
One scene I clearly remember is that she has been using coloured counters to teach numbers, then at the next visit, the woman’s young grand-daughter explains that her grandmother now thinks that ‘one’ means red, ‘two’ means blue, and the girl has to ask the grand-daughter to explain what they actually mean.
If anyone can help, I’d be really grateful!