Maps for Lost Lovers (Vintage International) (PDF) (Print)

If Gabriel Garc’a M‡rquez had chosen to write about Pakistani immigrants in England, he might have produced a novel as beautiful and devastating as Maps for Lost Lovers. Jugnu and Chanda have disappeared. Like thousands of people all over England, they were lovers and living together out of wedlock. To ChandaÕs family, however, the disgrace was unforgivable.  Perhaps enough so as to warrant murder.
 
As he explores the disappearance and its aftermath through the eyes of JugnuÕs worldly older brother, Shamas, and his devout wife, Kaukab, Nadeem Aslam creates a closely observed and affecting portrait of people whose traditions threaten to bury them alive. The result is a tour de force, intimate, affecting, tragic and suspenseful.