Shamsie weaves magic with words. Here’s a sample:
“I could mention the spices, so perfectly balanced you could almost see the mustard seed leaning on the fenugreek, the cumin poised on the dried chillies”
And with this delicately poised, evocative prose that is laced with dry wit she weaves such a fine web- about Aliya, her family the Dard-e-Dils, and their family legend that you never notice that it is after all just a love story about falling in love with boys from the other of the tracks. The characters and their eccentricities, the aristocratic society they inhabit, the thin edge of class borders and the bigger boundaries between countries all come alive without burying you under their weight. You close the book with the feel of having had a sumptuous feast.
A fine blend of salt and saffron.
©Maya
