© 2020 Penguin India
Set in Lahore, This House of Clay and Water explores the lives of two women. Nida, intelligent and lonely, has married into an affluent political family and is desperately searching for some meaning in her existence; and impulsive, lovely Sasha, from the ordinary middle-class, whose longing for designer labels and upmarket places is so frantic that she willingly consorts with rich men who can provide them. Nida and Sasha meet at the famous Daata Sahib dargah and connect-their need to understand why their worlds feel so alien and empty, bringing them together.
On her frequent visits to the dargah, Nida meets the gentle, flute-playing hijra Bhanggi, who sits under a bargadh tree and yearns for acceptance and affection, but is invariably shunned. A friendship-fragile, tentative and tender-develops between the two, both exiles within their own lives; but it flies in the face of all convention and cannot be allowed.
Faiqa Mansab’s accomplished and dazzling debut novel explores the themes of love, betrayal and loss in the complex, changing world of today’s Pakistan.
Imprint: India Viking
Published: May/2017
ISBN: 9780143442752
Length : 272 Pages
MRP : ₹499.00
Imprint: Penguin Audio
Published:
ISBN:
Imprint: India Viking
Published: May/2017
ISBN: 9789386495488
Length : 272 Pages
MRP : ₹499.00
Set in Lahore, This House of Clay and Water explores the lives of two women. Nida, intelligent and lonely, has married into an affluent political family and is desperately searching for some meaning in her existence; and impulsive, lovely Sasha, from the ordinary middle-class, whose longing for designer labels and upmarket places is so frantic that she willingly consorts with rich men who can provide them. Nida and Sasha meet at the famous Daata Sahib dargah and connect-their need to understand why their worlds feel so alien and empty, bringing them together.
On her frequent visits to the dargah, Nida meets the gentle, flute-playing hijra Bhanggi, who sits under a bargadh tree and yearns for acceptance and affection, but is invariably shunned. A friendship-fragile, tentative and tender-develops between the two, both exiles within their own lives; but it flies in the face of all convention and cannot be allowed.
Faiqa Mansab’s accomplished and dazzling debut novel explores the themes of love, betrayal and loss in the complex, changing world of today’s Pakistan.
Faiqa Mansab is a Pakistani writer. Her first novel, This House of Clay and Water was published by Penguin India in 2017. It was an Amazon Editor’s Pick, Amazon International Women’s Writing pick and was shortlisted for the Getz-Pharma Literary Award and the German Consulate Peace Prize in 2018. The novel has been translated into Turkish and is available as an audiobook by Blackstone Publishing USA. It has also been optioned for screen adaptation. Faiqa’s work in English has also appeared in Lucy Writer’s Platform, Cambridge; The Missing Slate, London; Medusa, London; and in Punjabi she has written for Barahmah, Pakistan. The Sufi Storyteller is her second novel. She lives with her family in Lahore.
Faiqa Mansab talks about her debut novel This House of Clay and Water, and her writing process.