38 Bahadurabad

A unique blend of autobiography and fiction, 38 Bahadurabad tells the story of a young girl growing up in Pakistan in the late 1960s, as the narrator recalls the motley group of eccentrics who fashioned her upbringing, and the father who, following his death in 1972, was apotheosised to near sainthood. The memories of her childhood - comic, sad, and always touching - build toward the concluding story, with its revelation of her father's other life.

Combining a rich and evocative depiction of Karachi life with an absorbing portrait of a remarkable household, 38 Bahadurabad is a first novel with an original and affecting voice.