A young man gives up his birthplace in India for a dream country founded by Jinnah. He starts from scratch in the newly established city of Karachi, which after Partition is suddenly thronged by a huge number of spirited Muslims ready to lead from the front. However, the past still hounds him. His dilemma becomes even more pronounced with the rapid breakdown of law and order in Karachi and the subsequent separation of Bangladesh from West Pakistan. A rich portrait of the new culture of urban Pakistan fostered by people who came to the other side from Lucknow, Meerut and Delhi, this outstanding novel strives to make sense of the chaos in Karachi, telling us in searing prose the story of Pakistan’s disillusionment.

About the Author
Intizar Husain has written five novels and published seven collections of short stories. Basti, his 1979 novel, which traces the psychic history of Pakistan through the life of one man, Zakir, has been republished as a New York Review of Books Classic. He was nominated for the Man Booker International Prize in 2013.

Dr Rakhshanda Jalil is a writer, critic and literary historian. She has edited three collections of short stories, a collection of essays on the little-known monuments of Delhi, co-authored two books, and written a book of short stories.