City of Spies - Hardcover

Khan, Sorayya

3.92

777 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1503941574 ISBN 13: 9781503941571

Publisher: Little A, 2017

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In this intimate coming-of-age story set in the late 1970s, a young girl struggles to make sense of the chaos around her during Pakistan’s political upheaval, where the military revolts, the embassy burns, and a terrible secret tears her world apart.

Eleven-year-old Aliya Shah lives a double life in Islamabad, Pakistan—at home with her Pakistani father and Dutch mother, and at the American School, where Aliya tries to downplay that she is a “half-and-half.” But when a hit-and-run driver kills the son of the family’s servant, Sadiq, who is also Aliya’s dear friend, her world is turned upside down. After she discovers the truth behind the tragedy—a terrible secret that burdens her heart—her conflicted loyalties are tested as never before.

Based on the author’s own experiences growing up in Islamabad, City of Spies offers a poignant and dramatic portrait of a tumultuous time, as seen through the eyes of a brave and compassionate young heroine struggling to find her place in the gray area between loyalty and complicity, family and country.

Revised edition: This edition of City of Spies includes editorial revisions.

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About the Author:

Sorayya Khan is the author of two previous novels, Noor and Five Queen’s Road. She is the recipient of a US Fulbright award, and City of Spies was the 2015 winner of the Best International Fiction Book at the Sharjah International Book Fair.

Review:

“Khan writes with lovely elegance...The novel is a moving success and necessary at a time when many of the same concerns have come to dominate our national (and international) consciousness.” —Kirkus Reviews

“City of Spies reminds readers that children bear witness to, and the weight of, the history unfolding around them.” —Booklist

“Khan’s ambitious work, written in a drawn-out, journalistic manner, is a good choice for popular fiction readers interested in 1970s Pakistan and identity politics.” —Library Journal

“The author, whose previous books also incisively and empathically deal with Pakistan at other crucial times of its life, spins the same magic...” —Business Standard

“Through the eyes of a young girl, City of Spies brings to vivid life a crucial episode in the history of the United States and Pakistan, at the moment of the Iran hostage crisis. The tensions and confusions of that time are intensely relevant today. Sorayya Khan’s rich and compelling novel is a gem.” —Claire Messud

“This delicate political novel evokes the sights and smells of the Pakistan of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and General Zia. We are inside the head of a child spying on her past. I read City of Spies as the story of another school girl in Pakistan, a different Malala. This Malala unmasks a whole new landscape of feeling.” —Amitava Kumar

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