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The Colour of Home

'One of the best political memoirs I've read in years' The Times

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The Colour of Home

By: Sajid Javid
Narrated by: Sajid Javid
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Summary

 'One of the best political memoirs I've read in years' The Times
'Gripping... enjoyable' Amol Rajan, BBC Today Programme
'Recalls the boisterous fiction of Hanif Kureishi' The Telegraph
'A remarkable story of resilience and ambition, brimming with love for his family' Sunday Times
'Striking, surprising, brutally honest' Rory Stewart
'Funny, addictive and moving' Andrew Marr

'Run, Paki, Run.'

The words ricocheted off the walls of the Rochdale underpass that connected Sajid Javid's home and primary school. Even as a five-year-old boy, he had learned that 70s Britain could be a cruel and violent place for those seen as outsiders.

Leaving behind the devastation of Partition, Sajid's father moved from Punjab to the UK in the 60s. The family held on to many of their Indo-Pakistani traditions, setting them apart and often leading to rejection by their new neighbours.

In this tender but powerful memoir, Sajid Javid shares his story of a childhood marked by poverty, racism and the tension produced by trying to conform to two cultures. These led to run-ins with the police, trouble at school and eventually the risk of estrangement from his family by defying their wish for his arranged marriage in favour of choosing the woman he loved . With each new trial, Sajid learned to dig his heels in further, speaking up for himself and stubbornly refusing to accept the limits that seemed imposed by his background.

Told with honesty, heart and humour, The Colour of Home charts Sajid's remarkable rise from adversity to the heart of British life. It is a story of hope, determination and survival - a tribute to the parents who gave everything and the brothers who struggled alongside him - and an invitation to every 'outsider' to keep going and dream big.©2026 Sajid Javid Politicians Politics & Activism Heartfelt
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Critic reviews

One of the best political memoirs I've read in years... His prose is endlessly evocative... Excellent (Patrick Maguire)
Gripping . . . enjoyable (Amol Rajan)
A remarkable story of resilience and ambition, brimming with love for his family
An intimate, and sometimes moving, family portrait as well as a social history of race, class and aspiration in late 20th-century Britain
Recalls the boisterous fiction of Hanif Kureishi... Javid displays in the book a vivid way of nailing down personality on the page and has an eye for the piquantly absurd
Crammed with incident - arranged marriages, savage beatings, boys behaving badly. I never imagined it would make me blub
Clear-eyed and surprisingly tender... Touching on poverty, alienation and ambition, it frames his rise not as triumphalism but as a message to outsiders to keep going
Javid's memoir should make all Britons proud... an absorbing saga of a migrant family's physical, mental and emotional passage, a touching love story, a riotous adventure about a British Pakistani boy from the margins who got to the very centre of political power, and a tale of redemption
This is a memoir unlike anything you will read from a politician. Sajid Javid tells his story with eloquence and wit
Striking, surprising, brutally honest - a powerful portrait of a remarkable man and historical change
A gripping and unique coming-of-age story which is both a slice of British history and a warning about what, if we are divided against ourselves again, could be be coming. Funny, addictive and moving
A startling memoir that screams with authenticity. Sajid was just another kid on the block, doing daily battle with his family's culture and this country's open hostility until he decided to break out of the box. When it doesn't leave you wriggling in outrage, it will drench you in tears and laughter. The finale is heart-wrenching
An important and deeply moving story of one man's origins, and the Britain he has known
Inspirational... Javid writes powerfully about overcoming adversity
All stars
Most relevant
Enjoyed the story but found some of it very repetitive talking about the poor times , a father’s failing businesses, the struggle to avoid arrange marriages . I stuck with it but no real surprises when talking about the family religious struggles and beliefs. Tne suicide by the eldest brother , sad but again not in expected as tne story was going .

5 sons and s struggling father

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A simple and clear telling of a difficult and complex life. I expect it’s an experience shared by lots of people and families of immigrants to the UK but I doubt many individuals have had the confidence and strength of character to thrive so well through it. It’s probably good that Sir Sajid stops his narrative before the details of his political life - it enables the telling of his story with seemingly complete honesty and integrity, avoiding the need for weaselly explanations of compromised political decisions. If I’d known Sir Sajid was such a decent man I might have voted for him.

A remarkable story wonderfully read

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Really impressive life story - well done him.
It’s a sad indictment of our current times that in many ways the nastiness of those times seems to have reemerged.

Really enjoyed listening to this

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I loved this book. It sounds as though it was written from the heart, an easy listen and so interesting. There wasn’t anywhere near the politics I was expecting but I wasn’t disappointed. So well done Said a beautiful book I didn’t want to end.

SUCH AN HONEST AND HIGHLY ENJOYABLE BOOK

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One of the best memoirs I’ve ever enjoyed reading/listening to. Honest recounting of personal experiences that brought smiles and tears. Thanks Javed for sharing!

Absolutely mesmerising

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