Kartography

Kamila Shamsie

In many ways it's a traditional will they?/won't they? story of two people who seem to have been fated to get together from birth, but the complicated web of family history which is bound up with the events of the civil war of 1971 make the outcome far from certain right up to the last page. Karachi itself is as much a character in the book as are Karim and Raheen's parents and friends. The difficulty of forming an honest and trusting relationship in a complex world is beautifully portayed.

Extract

Karim had, of late, developed a taste for the dramatic. As if I could ever disappear on him when he knew me well enough to finish almost any sentence that I started constructing in my head. I wanted to say that to him, but it seemed almost embarrassing; no it seemed like a betrayal of the trust we had in each other's friendship to have to articulate such a thing. So I said it indirectly, in a way I knew he'd understand.
'You're such an idiot,' I said and didn't need to look at him to know he was smiling.

Parallels