Salt and Saffron Book

Following the critical acclaim which greeted In the City by the Sea, Salt and Saffron is Kamila Shamsie's second novel. It's a book which, from its opening lines, attempts to engage the reader in the fabulous world of the "House of Dard-e-Dil": "All right, don't scoff, mock or disbelieve: we live in mortal fear of not-quite-twins". Who "we" are, and what this strange fear might be, is one of the many enigmas of this tale. "Of course, reduce all stories to their basic elements", the narrator continues, "and you'll see all families are possessed of prejudice--that alternative name for 'fear'". The confidence--and wit--of this voice runs right through the book: Salt and Saffron is as much a novel about the ability of a good storyteller to beguile her audience into listening to her as it is a chronicle of the aristocratic and cosmopolitan, Dard-e-Dil family: "Samia, it appeared, had become one of those who drink Pepsi in Pakistan and lassi in London". Sharply observed and grounded in its different landscapes, from London to Karachi, Shamsie's novel is also elusive, evoking a vast cast of characters--the family tree included at the beginning of the book may be some help--whose complex relations to one another are gradually unfolded through the love story which runs through the novel: a chance encounter between Aliya, Shamsie's narrator, and the "tanned, possibly multi-racial" Khaleel. Evocative, suggestive, sometimes frustrating, Salt and Saffron is a monument to the complexity of family lore and family scandal--the stories, and silence, which become the stuff of myth and history.--Vicky Lebeau Read More