Synopses & Reviews
Crib mates, raised together from birth, narrator Raheen and her best friend Karim dream each other's dreams, finish each other's sentences, speak in a language of anagrams. They share an idyllic childhood in upper-class Karachi with parents who are also best friends, even once engaged to the other until they rematched in what they jokingly call "the fiancee swap." The night Karim's family migrates from Karachi to London, Raheen knows that "some of my tears were his tears and some of his tears were mine." But as distance and adolescence split them apart, Karim takes refuge in the rationality of maps while Raheen searches for the secret behind her parents' exchange. What she uncovers takes us back two decades to reveal a story not just of a family's turbulent history but that of a country--and brings us forward to a grown-up Raheen and Karim drawn back to each other in the city that is their true home.
Review
"A gorgeous novel. Shamsie's wry humor infuses and quickens the narrative."
Review
"A modern-day romance in a war-ridden city, how love continues to blossom in the rubble of a devastated land."
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"A modern-day romance in a war-ridden city, how love continues to blossom in thee rubble of a devastated land."(,Booklist,08/01/2003)
Review
PRAISE FOR
KARTOGRAPHY"E. M. Forster's famous plea--'only connect'--reverberates passionately throughout this forceful tale of childhood, love and the power of story-telling."-- The Independent (London)
"Deftly woven, provocative . . . Shamsie's blistering humor and ear for dialogue scorches through [a] whirl of whiskey and witticisms."-- The Observer (London)
Review
"A shimmering, quick-witted lament and love story. This is a complex novel, deftly executed and rich in emotional coloratura and wordplay."
Review
"A modern-day romance in a war-ridden city, how love continues to blossom in the rubble of a devastated land."(Booklist, Aug 1 2003 )
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"At her best describing teeming Karachi and the love, fear and loathing it stirs in the hearts of her characters." <br>
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"An ambitious novel that is both a love story and a commentary on the problems that have plagued Pakistan."
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"Shamsie's unique slice-of-life tale beautifully illustrates the unbreakable bonds of love and friendship that are made more durable by forgiveness." <br>
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"Described as a young Anita Desai, [Shamsie's] third book, about Karachi during the turbulent 1990s, is worth all the fuss."
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"Its artful uncovering of how people hide from themselves and one another echoes Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things."
Review
PRAISE FOR KARTOGRAPHY
“A gorgeous novel of perimeters and boundaries, of the regions—literal and figurative—in which were comfortable moving about and those through which wed rather not travel . . . Shamsies wry humor infuses and quickens the narrative, leavening even the most serious
scenes without detracting from their emotional weight.”—LOS ANGELES TIMES
“[Shamsie] packs her story with the playful evidence of her highflying intelligence.”—SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Review
PRAISE FOR KARTOGRAPHY "[Shamsie] packs her story with the playful evidence of her highflying intelligence." —
San Francisco Chronicle "A gorgeous novel of perimeters and boundaries, of the regions-literal and figurative-in which we're comfortable moving about and those through which we'd rather not travel . . . Shamsie's wry humor infuses and quickens the narrative, leavening even the most serious scenes without detracting from their emotional weight." —
Los Angeles Times "E. M. Forster's famous plea--'only connect'--reverberates passionately throughout this forceful tale of childhood, love and the power of story-telling." —
The Independent "[In
Kartography] words are used as vehicles conveying both emotions and intelligence, while at the same time - because the whole novel hinges on a secret that is hidden from the narrator—Shamsie knows that words aren't exactly everything, either." —
The Guardian "Deftly woven, provocative . . . Shamsie's blistering humor and ear for dialogue scorches through [a] whirl of whiskey and witticisms." —The Observer "The descriptions of Karachi were so graphic I could feel the heat and the tension emanating from the pages of the book…Gripping and thought-provoking." —BBC.com "A shimmering, quick-witted lament and love story…This is a complex novel, deftly executed and rich in emotional coloratura and wordplay." —Publishers Weekly, starred review "[Kartography] leaves you feeling wistful and touches some place in your heart you didn't even know existed…Even though the story came to a magnificent end yet you wish [Shamsie] hadn't finished the book." —The Rumpus
Synopsis
Raheen and her best friend, Karim, share an idyllic childhood in upper-class Karachi. Their parents were even once engaged to each others' partners until they rematched in what they call "the fiancée swap." But as adolescence distances the friends, Karim takes refuge in maps while Raheen searches for the secret behind her parents' exchange. What she uncovers reveals not just a family's but a country's turbulent history-and a grown-up Raheen and Karim are caught between strained friendship and fated love.
A love story with a family mystery at its heart, Kartography is a dazzling novel by a young writer of astonishing maturity and exhilarating style. Shamsie transports us to a world we have not often seen in fiction-vibrant, dangerous, sensuous Pakistan. But even as she takes us far from the familiar, her story of passion and family secrets rings universally true.
About the Author
KAMILA SHAMSIE is the author of five novels: In the City by the Sea, Kartography (both shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize), Salt and Saffron, Broken Verses and Burnt Shadows, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize and has been translated into more than 20 languages. She is a trustee of English PEN and Free Word, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and one of Granta's 20 Best Young British Writers of 2013. She grew up in Karachi and now lives in London.