Broken Verses

March 21, 2005
Turbulent Karachi is the backdrop for this intriguing, shimmeringly intelligent fourth novel by Shamsie (Kartography
), which tells the story of progressive, overeducated Aasmaani Inqalab, the utterly likable 31-year-old daughter of fiery feminist icon Samina Akram. Since the age of 17, Aasmaani has been haunted by the brutal murder of her mother's lover—known simply as "the Poet"—and by her mother's disappearance two years later. As she eloquently puts it, "every prayer of mine for the last fourteen years had been one single word: Mama." Aasmaani takes a job as a quiz show researcher where she falls for the "dazzling" television producer Mir Adnan Akbar, who goes by "Ed." Ed is himself the child of a larger-than-life mother, the retired Pakistani actress Shehnaz Saeed, who happens to be Samina Akram's former confidante. Shehnaz's eagerly anticipated return to acting brings her into contact with Aasmaani. When she receives a cryptic letter, Shehnaz delivers it to Aasmaani knowing that Aasmaani's mother and the Poet developed a secret code to communicate with each other. As more letters arrive courtesy of Ed, Aasmaani convinces herself that the Poet is alive, held captive by a group he calls "the Minions." Although Aasmaani's interiority occasionally overwhelms the otherwise well-paced narrative, her characterization is Shamsie's crowning triumph. Wry, fetching and too clever for her own good, she is a captivating, unexpected heroine. Agent, Victoria Hobbs at A.M. Heath & Co. Ltd. (U.K.).

June 1, 2005
Aasmaani Akram has landed a job as a quiz show research assistant for the first independent television station in Karachi, Pakistan, shortly before the heralded return of Shehnaz Saeed, a legendary actress set to star in a station soap opera. Shehnaz was a close friend of 30-year-old Aasmaani's feminist icon mother, Samina, missing and presumed dead for the last 14 years. Aasmaani's father, Pakistan's greatest modern poet, disappeared just two years before Samina. Their outspoken activism meant long periods of parental absence for their daughter and fostered an air of cynicism and distrust. But when Shehnaz gives Aasmaani a series of coded letters ostensibly written by her parents, Aasmaani investigates her troubled past and faces the possibility that her parents may, in fact, be alive and imprisoned. Four-time novelist Shamsie ("Kartography") offers a beautifully written tale that is equal parts A.S. Byatt -style mystery and mother-daughter saga peopled with strong, engaging characters and deftly infused with humor and romance. The political realities of a post-9/11 Pakistan add another compelling dimension to the universal themes of familial, artistic, and political responsibility. Recommended for larger public libraries and those desiring to amass a collection of international authors. -Jenn B. Stidham, Houston Community Coll. Northeast

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2005
Adult/High School -Growing up in Pakistan, Aasmaani Inqalab, 31, was no stranger to government corruption and intrigue. Her heroes were her mother, an outspoken activist, and her mother's lover, a poet known for his criticism of bureaucracy. Far from a stable influence, though, the couple had a pattern of disappearing into exile when the government drew too close and reappearing months or years later. When she was a teen, the Poet was beaten to death, and her mother vanished shortly afterward. Aasmaani assumed that this disappearance was like all the others, and that her mother would reappear without apology one day. But when she begins receiving coded messages that suggest that the Poet's death was staged as part of a government plot, she is drawn into a web of intrigue in which her own life may be in danger. Her mother's closest friend resurfaces, and Aasmaani must decide whether Shehnaz and her son are truly looking out for her well-being or have ulterior motives. The story skillfully combines political intrigue with family dynamics. Characters are beautifully drawn, especially Aasmaani, whose inability to get beyond her abandonment has left deep scars. Shamsie's love for and knowledge of the people of today's Karachi shine through this compelling tale." -Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Library System, VA"

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2005
Shamsie's inventive fourth novel encompasses sharp political commentary, a complex mystery involving encrypted code, and a fractured mother-daughter relationship. In present-day Karachi, Aasmaani is 31 and unmarried, "a quiz show researcher without real friends." Fourteen years ago her mother, Samina, a well-known political activist, disappeared. Samina had been absent from Aasmaani's life for years at a time, as she followed her lover, known simply as the Poet, in and out of exile. It was rumored that government interrogators killed the Poet two years before Samina's disappearance, though his body was never identified. Suddenly a letter written in the code known only to Aasmaani, Samina, and the Poet surfaces, and Aasmaani wonders if one or both can possibly be alive. In poetic language, the author captures the struggle Aasmaani goes through to try and understand why her mother left her those many times--why she was the daughter "who never gave her a reason to stay." Shamsie carries the reader along on Aasmaani's slow journey of discovery with magnetic and beguiling prose, intelligence and wit.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)