Shahbano Bilgrami
Shahbano Bilgrami's first novel, 'Without Dreams', was published in November 2007 and was longlisted for the 2007 Man Asian Literary Prize.
The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim
SHAHBANO BILGRAMI | 09 June 2010EUGENIA KIM's ambitious debut, THE CALLIGRAPHER'S DAUGHTER tells the extraordinary tale of a young girl's struggle for selfhood in early twentieth-century Korea. Growing up in tumultuous times, Najin Han's remarkable story unfolds against a period of rapid change, a country under occupation, and a deeply traditional culture at the cusp of an enforced modernization that is, in some respects, associated with the usurping power. Despite the alarming... [ more ]
The Boat To Redemption by Su Tong
SHAHBANO BILGRAMI | 04 January 2010Rare is the book you wish wouldn't end, even after 400 pages, but one of these is Chinese author SU TONG's latest novel, THE BOAT TO REDEMPTION, a fascinating, often deeply disturbing, account of a young man struggling under the crushing weight of his family's questionable history. To those already acquainted with Chinese literature, Su Tong is a familiar name, first attracting international attention when his novella collection, Raise... [ more ]
Paper Butterfly by Diane Wei Liang
SHAHBANO BILGRAMI | 27 November 2008Following close upon The Eye of Jade, DIANE WEI LIANG's second novel, PAPER BUTTERFLY, picks up where the first left off, and continues the adventures of its intrepid heroine, Mei Wang, one of modern China's first female detectives. Set once again in Beijing, a city of transition and contrast, this second instalment in a proposed series of books takes as its focal point a beautiful paper butterfly that holds the answer to a brutal... [ more ]
The Eye of Jade by Diane Wei Liang
SHAHBANO BILGRAMI | 28 July 2008According to her mother and younger sister, sharp-featured Wang Mei is a failure: in her thirties and still unmarried, the fiercely-independent Mei resigns from her prestigious job in the Ministry for Public Security amid a cloud of speculation and joins China's newly--emerging entrepreneurial class. Her choice of business and her method of operation are as unconventional as her lifestyle: despite the laws against it, she... [ more ]
The Dowry Bride by Shobhan Bantwal
SHAHBANO BILGRAMI | 02 December 2007THE DOWRY BRIDE, SHOBHAN BANTWAL's debut novel, is a critical examination of the practice of dowry, which continues to play a significant role in India's arranged marriages despite recent legislation designed to curb it. Tackling a serious social issue head-on, Bantwal gives readers unfamiliar with the custom a brief introduction to its deliterous effects before embarking on a cautionary tale that dramatizes the debate and brings this... [ more ]
Earning the Laundry Stripes by Manreet Sodhi Someshwar
SHAHBANO BILGRAMI | 10 September 2007Noor Bhalla, the spunky Punjabi heroine of MANREET SODHI SOMESHWAR's EARNING THE LAUNDRY STRIPES, is anything but conventional. An engineer with an MBA from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC), she begins a year-long stint with Hindustan Lever as one of their very first women sales managers. Her training in this traditionally male preserve and her efforts to become `one of the boys' are jeopardized by none other than herself.... [ more ]
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary For Lovers by Guo Xiaolu
SHAHBANO BILGRAMI | 08 July 2007GUO XIAOLU's A CONCISE CHINESE-ENGLISH DICTIONARY FOR LOVERS was shortlisted for the 2007 Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction. A determined reader who manages to get past the first few pages of deliberately 'bad' English will soon see why the thirty-three year-old Chinese filmmaker was shortlisted. The novel offers a rare glimpse into the mind of a non-native English speaker, following her halting progress from nervous beginner to more self-assured user as she... [ more ]
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
SHAHBANO BILGRAMI | 24 June 2007Once critics have compared your work to Dostoevsky's, you can safely assume that you have made it in the world of literary fiction. Princeton graduate MOHSIN HAMID's second novel THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST has, within months of publication, garnered an impressive array of accolades. Not only was it one of the hottest titles at this year's London Book Fair, it has also made it to Barnes & Noble Recommends, and the list goes on. Like his first novel,... [ more ]
