'Today I got appointed at the airport. It's a wonderful world and a wonderful job. Thank you.'Meet Hasina Mansoor, vending machine attendant at the Airport Departure Lounge. From her vantage point, Hasina watches the planes take off outside the glass doors and secretly dreams of being on (even piloting) one of them. While selling forty-rupee tea isn't getting her any closer to that, Hasina keeps her spirits up by making friends (and enemies) among the other airport staff, ...

Meet Hasina Mansoor, vending machine attendant at the Airport Departure Lounge. From her vantage point, Hasina watches the planes take off outside the glass doors and secretly dreams of being on (even piloting) one of them. While selling overpriced tea isn't getting her any closer to that, Hasina keeps her spirits up by making friends (and enemies) among the other airport staff, including the treacherous Cookie Lady, the know-it-all Coupon Man, the beautiful Natasha Singh and her tasbih-wi...

Inspired by the legend of Abu Hathim, aging don of Vanity Bagh, Imran Jabbari and his friends form a gang called 5½ Men in their mohalla of Vanity Bagh. They are hired to dispense a batch of stolen scooters to different corners of the city; not until the city rocks with scooter bombs does Imran realize that they have been involved in a terrorist act. One of the prime accused in the 11/11 serial blasts, Imran is destined to live in captivity for the next fourteen years. He kills time plotti...

“A Bangladeshi immigrant in London is torn between the kind, tedious older husband with whom she has an arranged marriage (and children) and the fiery political activist she lusts after” (Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Sisterland) in this Booker Prize–shortlisted work of literary fiction about the immigrant experience.After an arranged marriage to Chanu, a man twenty years older, Nazneen is taken to London, leaving her home and heart in the Bangladeshi villa...

_______________WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION**WINNER OF THE LONDON HELLENIC PRIZEA BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, TELEGRAPH, NEW STATESMAN, EVENING STANDAND AND NEW YORK TIMES**_______________'The book for our times' - Judges of the Women's Prize'Elegant and evocative ... A powerful exploration of the clash between society, famil...

“I've told you before, and I will tell you again, if you are unable to read the Holy Book you will be punished.” The teacher’s face was a mask of anger. “Understand?”Born in 1975 in the UK to a Pakistani father and an English mother, Alexander Khan spent his early years as a Muslim in the north of England. But at the age of three his family was torn apart when his father took him to Pakistan. Despite his desperate cries, that was the last he saw of his mother – he was told she had ...

Finalist for the 2009 National Book Award in Fiction: a major literary debut that explores class, culture, power, and desire among the ruling and servant classes of Pakistan.Passing from the mannered drawing rooms of Pakistan’s cities to the harsh mud villages beyond, Daniyal Mueenuddin’s linked stories describe the interwoven lives of an aging feudal landowner, his servants and managers, and his extended family, industrialists who have lost touch with the land. In the spirit of Jo...

In the evening, Abu Fadi peeled oranges and apples and recounted stories of Palestine, orange groves and the house with the large wooden door that awaited their return. He pulled a black metal key out of his pocket and said, ‘See, children, this big key is to open our front door. I locked the house before I left. Everything is waiting for us in Palestine.This is the story of Lavi, a middle-aged Polish Jew who, desperate to have children, flees his barren marriage a...

A modern classic of Arab women’s literature—and a poignant reminder of the enduring plight of oppressed women around the globe“Brilliantly drawn . . . Al-Shaykh is one of the Arab world’s most distinguished writers.”—The GuardianIn an unnamed desert state, four very different women—Suha, Tamr, Suzanne, and Nur—struggle to cope in a society where they are treated to every luxury but freedom. Through their experiences, acclaimed Leba...

In a moment of idle curiosity, Musa tries on the modest garb of a Muslim woman to experience for himself what it's like to be veiled. While this causes much mirth among his fellow students at the Madrasah, the elders are not amused, viewing Musa's experimentation as a prank too far. Back at home he must conform to family life and face the prospect of an arranged marriage. Cleverly, the family patriarch, Dadaji, offers him a deal: a month of days to find himself a bride or else Musa must ac...

On an impulse, Trudi-Ann Tierney, Sydney producer and former actress, goes to Kabul to manage a bar. She quickly falls into the local TV industry, where she becomes responsible for producing a highly popular soapie.Trudi's staff are hugely inexperienced. They include Habib, the Pashto poet who wants to insert allegorical scenes involving fighting ants into the scripts; Rashid, the Dari manager, who spends all day surreptitiously watching uncensored Hindi music videos; and the Pakis...

_______________'A boisterous tribute to her home town that crackles with the chaos of Pakistani political life' - The Times'Deftly woven and provocative ... Shamsie's blistering humour and ear for dialogue scorches through their whirl of whisky and witticisms' - Observer'You will notice very quickly that you're reading a book by someone who can write … Above all, Kartography is a love story...