I started reading this novel here in Lahore, on my iPhone, using my Scribd subscription. If I understand correctly, the story is set around (or right after) partition, the turbulence of which has negatively affected a tawaif. Initially, I didn’t look up the word tawaif, which the author did not explain, but later I satisfied …

Between Clay and Dust: Less is More with Austere Language & Narrative Restraint Read More »

December 3, 2020 The rendering of the city’s atmosphere evokes my own sense memories of Pakistani settings and has kept me engaged through chapter 11 with a cast of characters dealing with a kind of melodramatic need to get their boy married. The author’s reasonable, sympathetic, insider’s perspective on his Muslim characters is a relief. …

Reading Twilight in Delhi in Lahore (During the Pandemic) Read More »