Fourteen years ago, famous Pakistani activist Samina Akram disappeared. Two years earlier, her lover, Pakistan's greatest poet, was beaten to death by government thugs. In present-day Karachi, her daughter Aasmaani has just discovered a letter in the couple's private code-a letter that could only have been written recently.
Aasmaani is thirty, single, drifting from job to job. Always left behind whenever Samina followed the Poet into exile, she had assumed that her mother's disappearance was simply another abandonment. Then, while working at Pakistan's first independent TV station, Aasmaani runs into an old friend of Samina's who gives her the first letter, then many more. Where could the letters have come from? And will they lead her to her mother?
Merging the personal with the political, Broken Verses is at once a sharp, thrilling journey through modern-day Pakistan, a carefully coded mystery, and an intimate mother-daughter story that asks how we forgive a mother who leaves.
Industry Reviews
"Shamsie's love for and knowledge of the people of today's Karachi shine through this compelling tale." "Admirable. [And] Aasmaani's voice - shifting from anger to vulnerability - drives the intriguing story." "An utterly riveting tale. Shamsie has created one of the most compelling characters to appear in recent fiction." "Broken Verses speaks to the power of words in an age of repression, played against the turbulent history of Pakistan." "Shamsie carries the reader along on Aasmaani's slow journey of discovery with magnetic and beguiling prose, intelligence and wit." "Broken Verses isn't just well-written, it's practically poetry. A before-bed-in-front-of-the-fire-with-your-favorite-cup-of-tea read." "A fresh literary look at modern-day Pakistan. [A] sparse, at times beautiful meditation on love, forgiveness, and letting go. B+." "Turbulent Karachi is the backdrop for this intriguing, shimmeringly intelligent fourth novel with its wry, fetching, captivating, and unexpected heroine." "A gripping read." "Shamsie''s love for and knowledge of the people of today''s Karachi shine through this compelling tale." "An utterly riveting tale. Shamsie has created one of the most compelling characters to appear in recent fiction." "Shamsie carries the reader along on Aasmaani''s slow journey of discovery with magnetic and beguiling prose, intelligence and wit." "Admirable. [And] Aasmaani''s voice - shifting from anger to vulnerability - drives the intriguing story." "Broken Verses isn''t just well-written, it''s practically poetry. A before-bed-in-front-of-the-fire-with-your-favorite-cup-of-tea read." PRAISE FOR BROKEN VERSES
"[Shamsie] packs her story with the playful evidence of her high-flying intelligence." --San Francisco Chronicle
"This 30-year-old has been described as a young Anita Desai, and her third book, about childhood, love, life and high society in Karachi during the turbulent 1990s, is worth all the prepublication fuss." --Harper's Bazaar
"A fresh literary look at modern-day Pakistan...[a] beautiful meditation on love, forgiveness, and letting go." --Entertainment Weekly
"Richly woven...There is a succulent pleasure to the narrative that draws you happily to its end." --The Guardian
"This is also a story about parents and children, about Aasmaani trying to make peace with her strange childhood. It is a story about love, as Aasmaani and Shehnaz's son find themselves drawn to each other. And there's politics, to boot. The political backdrop-criticism of America, anxiety about the role of fundamentalists in Pakistani government-remains just that, a backdrop; it never overshadows, but rather somehow expands, the story...A thoroughly captivating tale." --Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"Intriguing, shimmeringly intelligent...Shamsie's crowning triumph." --Publishers Weekly "This novel is about mothers and daughters, life in a repressive society, and falling in love. Gorgeously written."
--author of Booklust "Nancy Pearl " "[The main character] herself is this strong novel's greatest strength. She's a remarkable narrator, in a thoroughly captivating tale."
--starred "Kirkus " PRAISE FOR "BROKEN VERSES "
"[Shamsie] packs her story with the playful evidence of her high-flying intelligence." "San Francisco Chronicle"
"This 30-year-old has been described as a young Anita Desai, and her third book, about childhood, love, life and high society in Karachi during the turbulent 1990s, is worth all the prepublication fuss." "Harper's Bazaar"
"A fresh literary look at modern-day Pakistan [a] beautiful meditation on love, forgiveness, and letting go." "Entertainment Weekly "
"Richly woven There is a succulent pleasure to the narrative that draws you happily to its end." "The Guardian "
"This is also a story about parents and children, about Aasmaani trying to make peace with her strange childhood. It is a story about love, as Aasmaani and Shehnaz's son find themselves drawn to each other. And there's politics, to boot. The political backdrop-criticism of America, anxiety about the role of fundamentalists in Pakistani government-remains just that, a backdrop; it never overshadows, but rather somehow expands, the story A thoroughly captivating tale." "Kirkus Reviews" (starred)
"Intriguing, shimmeringly intelligent Shamsie's crowning triumph." "Publishers Weekly "" PRAISE FOR "BROKEN VERSES "
"[Shamsie] packs her story with the playful evidence of her high-flying intelligence." "San Francisco Chronicle"
"This 30-year-old has been described as a young Anita Desai, and her third book, about childhood, love, life and high society in Karachi during the turbulent 1990s, is worth all the prepublication fuss." "Harper's Bazaar"
"A fresh literary look at modern-day Pakistan [a] beautiful meditation on love, forgiveness, and letting go." "Entertainment Weekly "
"Richly woven There is a succulent pleasure to the narrative that draws you happily to its end." "The Guardian "
"This is also a story about parents and children, about Aasmaani trying to make peace with her strange childhood. It is a story about love, as Aasmaani and Shehnaz's son find themselves drawn to each other. And there's politics, to boot. The political backdrop-criticism of America, anxiety about the role of fundamentalists in Pakistani government-remains just that, a backdrop; it never overshadows, but rather somehow expands, the story A thoroughly captivating tale." "Kirkus Reviews" (starred)
"Intriguing, shimmeringly intelligent Shamsie's crowning triumph." "Publishers Weekly "" PRAISE FOR KARTOGRAPHY
"[Shamsie] packs her story with the playful evidence of her high-flying intelligence."-SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
"This 30-year-old has been described as a young Anita Desai, and her third book, about childhood, love, life and high society in Karachi during the turbulent 1990s, is worth all the prepublication fuss." -HARPER'S BAZAAR PRAISE FOR KARTOGRAPHY
"[Shamsie] packs her story with the playful evidence of her high-flying intelligence."-SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
"This 30-year-old has been described as a young Anita Desai, and her third book, about childhood, love, life and high society in Karachi during the turbulent 1990s, is worth all the prepublication fuss." -HARPER'S BAZAAR "A beautifully written tale that is equal parts A.S. Byatt-style mystery and mother-daughter saga. [D]eftly infused with humor and romance."
