Although I usually enjoy books that illuminate important parts of history, particularly of other countries and cultures, I felt the pace of this book was not my favorite. Although Shiv is an interesting character, and the issues of colonialism, sexuality, and outdated mores were covered well, the book was not for me. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and Crown Publishing for giving me access to this eARC!

In a word, this book was WOW. Beena Kamlani is an exceptionally talented writer. That this is her debut novel is astounding to me as it reads like a seasoned fiction author. The epic tale of Shiv Advani, while fictional, is interspersed with well-researched and accurate historical information regarding the contemptuous relationship between India and England, Gandhi's mission, life during World War II, and the reality of being "different" in the 30s-early 40s England. I was completely enraptured by Shiv and the various other characters in the novel, specific Julia, Mairi, Lucy, and Millie Polak. The interweaving of the cultural elite of the time such as Virginia and Leonard Woolf was also so special as a literary lover and made me want to indulge in some of those classic reads once I had finished with this one. Shiv's character development was also so well done, my heart broke for him at multiple points and I truly felt like I was on this journey with him only wanting him to succeed and thrive. There was also no perfect character in this novel, which I appreciated. Everyone felt real and had inner demons and conflicts that they dealt with throughout the book.

My only qualm was that at times, the jumping back and forth in timeline became a tad disorienting but I still felt like that book flowed quite well.

Overall, a 4.5/5 stars from me and I would recommend this to all lovers of historical fiction!

3.5 stars
In this impressive debut, Shiv Advani is handpicked as an 18 year-old by Mahatma Gandhi to travel from India and study law in London. The plan is that he will return to India after his studies and use his knowledge of their own laws to help with a non-violent ouster of the British colonizers. Shiv arrives in London to begin his studies in 1931 but is then asked to stay after graduation to gain experience as a barrister eventually spending a decade in England before his journey home in 1941.

The narrative alternates between two timelines - one that begins in 1931 when Shiv is a newly arrived immigrant to London and the second in 1941 when he is aboard a ship homeward bound for India - and includes complex fictional characters who interact with real-life historical figures including Gandhi, Romanian-British journalist Miron Grindea and writers E.M. Forster and Virginia Woolf.

The English Problem is a slow-paced, character driven novel set against the backdrop of India's independence movement, the rise of fascism in Europe and the onset of World War II. Beautifully written and descriptive, it's a touching story of one young man's struggle with his sexual and cultural identity but also a story of the far-reaching impact of colonialism as well as racism and classism in England.

This was an interesting and enjoyable read - my only criticism is that it did feel longer than it needed to be (nearly 500 pages) and started to drag a bit towards the end. The English Problem ends prior to Partition in 1947 and I would love to know what happens next to Shiv, his family and Lucy as India gained her independence but his home region became part of the new state of Pakistan.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was surprised that it was a debut. I really loved learning so much about Gandhi. Each time his philosophy was explained by a character in the text the meaning was deepened and I appreciated the level of detail on each of its principles. The idea that feminism, anti fascism, and anti imperialism were all such close allies before World War II was very interesting and enlightening to me. The inclusion of real historical people like Virgina Woolf made this novel extra special. I love to learn via fiction. It seems to me to make for the easiest lessons and I definitely learned a lot about India, Britain, colonialism and much more. And there was a good love story in there too!

There were times when I felt the pacing was a bit off. Parts of this novel seemed to drag on in too much miniscule detail. For example, when Lucy was teaching Shiv English customs. Maybe I just wasn’t interested ? Or maybe I wanted the plot to move faster. There are a lot of side roads taken in this work and most of them I did appreciate and enjoy. The character of Shiv grew on him, especially on the ship home.

Overall kudos to the author for the depth of research and excellent clear writing. I will read your next book. Thanks to Net Galley and Crown Publishing for the advance copy.

4.5 stars
This is an impressive first novel. The research on which this is based is thorough and the plot, historical information, and compelling writing carried me along. The plot centers on Shiv, a young Indian boy who meets Mahatma Gandhi via his barrister father. Gandhi coveys that he has high hopes for him in India's struggle for independence and Shiv ultimately moves to London to pursue education and training as a barrister. There he meets real and compelling fictitious characters and struggles to still his heart/loves and passions in order to dedicate himself to India's non-violent quest for independence. The author offers a first-rate portrayal of Shiv's experiences as a subject of Britain, schooled in being more British than the Brits yet every an outsider and often a victim of prejudices. Like many Americans, I knew the grand strokes of India's independence struggle, however this book enriched my understanding of Gandhi's philosophy and details about how artists and cultural figures were interwoven into that struggle. I greatly enjoyed this book, The only reason I am not giving it 5 stars is because the story dragged a bit towards the end...but not so much that I did not stay up late reading it! Can't wait to read this authors next book!

The English Problem by Bina Camliny, when Shiv is a boy he meets Mahatma Gandhi due to his barrister father’s place in British ruled Indian Society. It would be Gandhi who advises his parents to send him to London to help beat the English at their own game and he sit there to stay with the English lawyer, Mr. Pollik and his family, while he is becoming a barrister. despite his good intentions, the more he is in England the more he loves English culture into his father.s embarrassment. He also becomes a bohemian and instead of practicing law finds himself married to an English woman, and starting up a pro India magazine for the freedom of his countrymen. I cannot believe that this is a debut novel. This book was so readable in such a page Turner, not to mention all the great historical characters in the book. The way we got to see ships interpretation of the outlandish and racist things English people would say and I’m talking about the ones who were pro Indian. I was so curious to see how the book would end and so is not to give anything away. I will just say it was a very satisfying ending and I cannot wait to see what this author comes up with next. I would definitely read another book by them in the future. #NetGalley,#BinaCamliny,#TheEnglishProblem,#Crown publishing,

The English Problem is a very interesting novel. Shiv’s path in life seems to have been determined when he met Gandhi at an early age. He would be helping Gandhi’s cause happily. When he is in his late teens he is sent to England to study law and live with family friends.
The problem is the English in India and fighting for independence. But as Shiv studies and lives in London he becomes a lawyer, and questions whether he wants to go back to India. He finds forbidden love and an interesting career then is pulled back to Gandhi’s fight.
Another great love is experienced, but an unexpected event sends him home. Shiv’s conflict keeps the story moving forward.
I liked it very much but it did bog down a bit in the last quarter.

Very much enjoyed reading an entire book on India's efforts at independence from Great Britain. Told in two timelines, it delves into India under British rule and the effects of colonization.

This was a really good book. I’d like the themes of a journey, migration, starting a new, and betrayal. This was a good book, I do think there was a lull in the middle, which was hard to read through, but other than that it was great.

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

Without a doubt, this book is one of the highlights of my reading year. There is much to praise as the writing is rich and brings in many topics that give the reader a sense of place and time.

The book opens in London, and we are introduced to our main character Shiv who goes to London to study law and follow in the steps of his mentor Ghandi. As a little boy he said he wanted to do this, and because his family was close to Ghandi, they wanted him to follow as he had stated.

The book weaves the story of Shiv, his many successes as well as his struggles, in navigating life in London as he tries to stay true to his mission. He is deeply committed to helping to free India from the British and along the way learns all he can about the British and their ways. He is blessed to stay with family friends who try and help him, but they are not Indian and can only be just so helpful. This was a time when there was still a great deal of taboo about Indians knowing their place in the world.

Shiv is a very complex character and gives up a lot to carry the torch for India. His life in England covers a lot of ground, and I would hate to give anything away, so I purposely remain vague. Just note that the book is not only about the fading British empire. There is sex, love, homosexuality, country life, marriage and so much more.

What I particularly find spectacular about this book is that the author has a great observant eye and delivers wonderful insightful passages on the nuance of trying to be English. There are of course a lot of cliches, but it all works to make a point.

I very much enjoyed reading this book and was sad when it ended.

A beautifully written book focused on a young Indian man whose pro-independence activism in the UK changes his life.

Sometimes, a book is special, and this one is. The English Problem is a story told in a dual timeline about an Indian boy in 1931, chosen by Gandhi to learn British law so he can help India become independent. A boy who hastily marries before he leaves but finds forbidden love in London while at the same time, he is also confronted with racism and all those rules the English have.

” What you don’t understand is that if you want to be one of us, you have to show you know the rules. Even when you get to be in a position where you can ignore them. Trust me, I know my people well!”

Shiv learns fast but not fast enough—until he meets Lucy, an upperclassman who discards all the rules but shows Shiv what the British want from him.

We’re—the British, I mean—used to sifting wheat from chaff. We invent new rules all the time in order to exclude people, not to include them.”

I loved those two men together. Lucy was such a beautiful gem, and his love for Shiv shone through the pages. And Lucy was everything to Shiv.

He is not they, just as I am not them, back in India. He can no more be me, than I can be him. But together, we shine. That was all that mattered.

But Shiv had a mission. Gandhi specifically told him when he was just a kid that he had to give up desire. And there might be other people than Lucy too.

There are two kinds of happiness in love, the one that does thrill at a touch from your lover and wants more of it, and the one that notes it and is pleased to have the touch, regardless of whether it thrills or not, as comfort.

Like I said above, this story is told on a dual timeline: the first one starts in 1931, when Shiv arrives in London, and the second one starts in 1941, when he returns to India. A lot has happened over the years, and through trial and error, Shiv learns to stand his ground and even disobey in England.

The last quarter of the story gave me lumps in my throat—I love those letters to Julia—and while I was reading those last pages, my eyes flooded with tears.

Healing rain, we need so much of it.

I don’t think this book is for everyone. The pacing is on the slower side, and sometimes, it dives deep into all those people and their relations back, then jumps from Ghandi to Virginia Woolf to Miron Grindea to E.M. Forster and lots of others. But if you want to know more about an Indian man moving to England and then back to India, then this is a fantastic book to read.

For fans of The Women and The Alice Network- comes a lively new voice in historical fiction. The English Problem centers on Shiv Advani, chosen by Ghandi to study law in 1931, in order to advance Indian independence from Great Britain. He leaves at age 18, after a brief arranged marriage. The timeline jumps back and forth through the early 1940’s as Shiv returns to India from England.

Like the very best historical fiction, I learned the culture and heritage of the Indian people under British rule. This is not a part of history I have studied, and I feel as though I have learned about this while following Shiv’s timeline. Shiv loves and hates the British, and has an internal struggle about his identity that lasts throughout the novel.

Thanks to @NetGalley and @CrownPublishing for the ARC. Book to be published January 28th, 2025.

#booksbooksbooks #bookstagram #booklover #arcreview #booktok #netgalley #bookrecommendations #theenglishproblem

There is something marvelous about a writer who can bring you into the story, the characters, the setting from the first line of a novel. As a reader, you know you're in good hands and that this reading experience will be involving and memorable.

So it is with Beena Kamlani and The English Problem. It's a first novel but Kamlani has been active in other genres and as an editor for a while. All of that plays into the assurance of the novel, and how expertly the story plays out.

Shiv Advani comes to England in 1931 to study law at the Inns of Court. He has been personally chosen by Gandhi to become a Barrister and use English law in the cause of independence. Shiv will stay with the Polaks, a couple who have been involved in the struggle with Gandhi since his days in South Africa. As a Barrister, Henry Polak will guide Shiv through the arcane traditions and pathways of the British court so that he truly knows how to use the system to support the cause. He's only eighteen, and his family quickly arranges a marriage to a 16-year-old who gets pregnant before he leaves.

The English Problem approaches Shiv's story from two directions--part of the narration begins at his arrival and the other starts in 1941, when Shiv is on a ship returning to India after being shot while giving a speech. How those timelines come together is a real pleasure to discover. The story has an open ending, and I would LOVE a second book tracing the characters through Indian Independence.

Many, many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review. I highly recommend this exceptional historical novel.

The kind of book you finish and immediately want to discuss with others.

Reading *The English Problem* felt like revisiting a world that I’ve glimpsed through stories passed down by my own family—where the echoes of colonial rule ripple into the deepest parts of the soul. The novel is rich, layered, and painfully real, a masterful narrative that captures how complex and haunting the experience of living under British colonialism was.

The story of Shiv Advani, an Indian man chosen by none other than Mahatma Gandhi to come to England, had me hooked from the start. His journey from stepping foot in rainy London to grappling with the weight of colonialism isn’t just compelling—it’s deeply personal for anyone who has lived through or inherited the effects of empire.

Shiv’s struggle to "beat the English at their own game" resonates with the duality of admiration and resentment that many of us from former colonies can relate to. It struck a chord with my own memories of navigating spaces where you feel like you don’t quite belong, and yet, you try to find your place. The way Kamlani weaves his internal battle—between his sense of duty to his people and the allure of becoming part of the very world he’s meant to oppose—is brilliantly written.

The novel explores the many faces of colonialism—racism, identity, self-worth, and the psychological scars that remain long after the colonialists have left. Shiv’s story is heart-wrenching and poignant, especially when he begins to question not just the British, but himself. He’s not just trying to understand the English, but how they’ve affected the way he sees his own country and his place in the world.

For anyone with roots in a post-colonial world—or simply those curious about the subtleties of what it means to be "colonized"—*The English Problem* is essential reading. Kamlani’s writing is a quiet storm—it sneaks up on you, lingers in the most unexpected places, and leaves a lasting impression.