“She felt him in his absence, every pinprick of grief a homage to the time they had had together. She was starting to settle into it, wearing the cocoon of loss as a comfort, in some ways - a mantle of memory that she warmed herself in.”

First of all, let me tell you that I absolutely adored this book! I find it very hard to believe that this is Shahnaz’s debut novel. It is extremely intricate, endearing and beyond beautiful. It is perhaps one of the best books I’ve read in a long longgg time!!

The book begins as Hashim leaves his home in East Pakistan and joins his cousin Rofikul in the UK. We follow them and their families for the next twenty years or so, as they grapple with love, loss, identity, racism, nationalism… Shahnaz’s depiction of the creation of Bangladesh is honest and powerful and poignant.

I am struggling to accurately describe this book. It packs so many heavy themes like Partition and racism, yet they never overpower the characters and their lives. Essentially, it is a book about love, heartbreak and identity - in all their various forms. It is certainly a highly ambitious novel with a lot of components, but Shahnaz ties them all seamlessly.
The writing seems simple but it will settle into your heart and you won’t be able to put the book down. It is so immersive that I absolutely did not want the book to ever end. Can’t possibly recommend this enough.

Eagerly waiting for Shahnaz to come out with another novel!

PS This book was shortlisted for The Guardian’s ‘Not the Booker Prize 2020’