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In the Company of Strangers
Lahore – a city of secretive glamour, whispering elites, and sordid affairs. A city brought to its knees by terrorism.
Forty one-year old Mona has almost everything: money, friends, social status… everything except for freedom in the repressed Pakistani society. Languishing in her golden cage, she craves a sense of belonging… of love.
Desperate for emotional release, she turns to an indulgent friend who introduces her to an alternate world of glitter, glamour, covert affairs and drugs. There she meets Ali, a physically and emotionally wounded man, years younger than her.
Heady with love, she begins a delicate game of deceit that spirals out of control and threatens to shatter the deceptive facade of conservatism erected by Lahori society, and potentially destroy everything that Mona has ever held dear.
Forty one-year old Mona has almost everything: money, friends, social status… everything except for freedom in the repressed Pakistani society. Languishing in her golden cage, she craves a sense of belonging… of love.
Desperate for emotional release, she turns to an indulgent friend who introduces her to an alternate world of glitter, glamour, covert affairs and drugs. There she meets Ali, a physically and emotionally wounded man, years younger than her.
Heady with love, she begins a delicate game of deceit that spirals out of control and threatens to shatter the deceptive facade of conservatism erected by Lahori society, and potentially destroy everything that Mona has ever held dear.
274 pages, Paperback
Published July 28, 2019
About the author
Awais Khan
11 books192 followersAwais Khan is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and Durham University. He has studied Creative Writing at Faber Academy in London.
He is the award-winning author of the critically acclaimed IN THE COMPANY OF STRANGERS (published by Simon & Schuster, Isis Audio and Hera Books) and NO HONOUR (published by Orenda Books).
He has appeared on BBC World Service, Dubai Eye, Voice of America, Cambridge Radio, City42, PTV Home, Samaa TV, Indua TV etc. His work has appeared in The Aleph Review, Missing Slate, The Hindu, Daily Times and other publications.
He is the Founding Director of The Writing Institute and has delivered talks on Creative Writing at Oxford University, Durham University, American University of Dubai, Canadian University of Dubai, Kinnaird College etc.
He is on the judging panel of Gwyl Crime Cymru Novel Prize and Cheshire Novel Prize. He was longlisted for the Short Story Dagger in 2022.
He is represented by Annette Crossland at A for Authors Agency Ltd, London.
He is the award-winning author of the critically acclaimed IN THE COMPANY OF STRANGERS (published by Simon & Schuster, Isis Audio and Hera Books) and NO HONOUR (published by Orenda Books).
He has appeared on BBC World Service, Dubai Eye, Voice of America, Cambridge Radio, City42, PTV Home, Samaa TV, Indua TV etc. His work has appeared in The Aleph Review, Missing Slate, The Hindu, Daily Times and other publications.
He is the Founding Director of The Writing Institute and has delivered talks on Creative Writing at Oxford University, Durham University, American University of Dubai, Canadian University of Dubai, Kinnaird College etc.
He is on the judging panel of Gwyl Crime Cymru Novel Prize and Cheshire Novel Prize. He was longlisted for the Short Story Dagger in 2022.
He is represented by Annette Crossland at A for Authors Agency Ltd, London.
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August 15, 2019
Terrorist bombings are rife in Pakistan and Lahore, that country’s second-most populous city -- and one of its wealthiest – has its fair share. Another interesting fact, at least according to Dr. Denis MacEoin writing for the Gatestone Institute in 2017, is that 90% of Pakistani women suffer from domestic violence; that Pakistan is the third most dangerous country in the world for women. Into this background comes author, Awais Khan’s debut novel, "In The Company Of Strangers", the extraordinary story of Ali and Mona, two of the unlikeliest characters you would expect to cross paths in that teeming city. Ali is a young man, still in his twenties, who once was a successful model. But with his success came all the trappings you would expect in that profession: sex, drugs and alcohol. As he enters the story, he has given all that up but in doing so, he is forced to live in poverty. Across town we find Mona, wife of Bilal, a construction millionaire. She is in her early forties. She has all the trappings of wealth and power: a luxury home with servants, designer clothes, expensive jewellery and flashy cars. But it comes at a cost – she suffers physical and mental abuse from her violent husband. Their marriage, at least from Mona’s point of view, is loveless. When a terrorist’s bomb severely injures Ali’s brother, Hussain, he is forced back into modelling to raise money for his treatment. It is there that his path crosses with Mona’s. And as it does, their lives will never be the same.
If you like thrillers, you’ll love this book; if you like romance novels, you’ll love this book; if you like literature, you’ll love this book. In fact, if you read anything at all, including the newspaper, you’ll love Awais Khan’s "In The Company Of Strangers". From the explosive prologue to the poignant dénouement, it is a page-turner and, at the same time, a fascinating and unique glimpse into the complexities of Pakistani society. The prose is flawless, visual, and characterisation so effective, you know every facet of the main characters’ psyche and you cannot help but will that everything will turn out okay for them. I highly recommend this book. It would be a crime if it didn’t become a bestseller.
If you like thrillers, you’ll love this book; if you like romance novels, you’ll love this book; if you like literature, you’ll love this book. In fact, if you read anything at all, including the newspaper, you’ll love Awais Khan’s "In The Company Of Strangers". From the explosive prologue to the poignant dénouement, it is a page-turner and, at the same time, a fascinating and unique glimpse into the complexities of Pakistani society. The prose is flawless, visual, and characterisation so effective, you know every facet of the main characters’ psyche and you cannot help but will that everything will turn out okay for them. I highly recommend this book. It would be a crime if it didn’t become a bestseller.
January 1, 2021
This was a very interesting book (and great debut) about the Pakistani society and a welcome, educative read outside of my comfort genres. It’s one of those books that stay with you long after you finished it. I read this more than a year ago and I still think about the ending – not one that I have expected, but one that I still ponder about from time to time.
October 12, 2023
Back when I started reading Pakistani fiction, I also fell victim to that oft-repeated perception held by a majority of the Pakistani population about every Pakistani book published ever: that all stories originating from this country are only about drugs, corruption, religion, or politics.
This is a pretty frequent refrain amongst the readers I’ve met in this country, and the complaint has been repeated so many times at this point that most people I know believe it wholeheartedly. They don’t bother giving most Pakistani authors the time of the day, and while I’ve been arguing for years that we now have multiple genres being explored, it’s books like In the Company of Strangers that really force the whole Pakistani publishing industry to take one giant step back.
This title is an amalgamation of all of the worst stereotypes of the ‘Pakistani book’. It uses the same old boring tropes, introduces characters that are caricatures at best, and engages in some of the most ridiculous clichés of book publishing within this country. I had already stumbled across the italicization of the desi word in the first paragraph of the first chapter, a personal irritant that I simply can’t get over no matter how many times I find it. And to make matters worse, the italicized word was dupatta. Dupatta. The word is literally present in every other English dictionary. I’m pretty sure we can stop italicizing it now.
It didn’t get any better from there onwards. Within the very first chapter, the book had managed to thoroughly convince me that this wasn’t the place to look for good writing. The sentence construction was weak as hell, and don’t even get me started on comma usage. Honestly, working as an editor has taught me that a significant number of well-read, professionally trained people can still manage to disagree on where exactly a comma needs to be placed, but those disagreements usually occur in situations with subtle nuances. In a majority of the cases though, usually either a comma is in the right place or it is not. Unfortunately, in this book, it usually was not.
The fruit vendors shouting out tempting prices from their carts as they scratched their armpits, cars attempted to make their way through the gathering mess.
Look at the punctuation! Look at those tenses! Atrocious. Am I accidentally reading the third, unedited draft of this novel? Random capitalization also occurred: at one point, the word gora (italicized, obviously) started with a capital letter. Why? In which unholy editing universe were these decisions being taken? All I’m saying it, my precious little editorial heart suffered. And by the time we got to the mention of the CIA barely 3 percent into the book (mention of American intelligence agencies being another important part of a ‘Pakistani book’), I was already rolling my eyes. It was like I could see every hackneyed plot point well in advance.
The voice of their Leader rang in his head again like a drumbeat. It will be painless for you, Jihadi, but the pain of those kaafirs, those non-believers, will be unimaginable. Remember, they are not humans; they do not feel. They do not love. You shall be rewarded for this noble deed, my boy, you will go to heaven. Kill those kaafirs!’
So it’s safe to say that I went in expecting every cliché under the sun to be present. I mean, the boss of the suicide-loving gang was called the ‘Leader’. That should give you some idea of the amount of time that was spent on the world building. And I already knew that I could expect weak attempts at humanizing these characters, because authors love showing how flawed their characters are, no matter how badly they fail at doing so. So combine the questionable editorial style policy with the hare-brained representation of men doing violent things for religion, and we were already off to a great start.
These were the workings of Shaitan, the Satan.
Okay then.
I think what was even more frustrating about the whole thing was that there was such possibility. Our protagonist, Mona, is a woman in her forties who has an affair with a much younger man. On the surface, this is something I can totally get behind (the age gap, not the adultery, which we’ll get to in a second). A depiction well done would have had the honour of being one of the few desi novels which break the relationship age barrier. As a society, Pakistanis are always horrified at the slightest hint of a young man being connected in a romantic manner with an older woman. This from a country which prides itself on its religious beginnings, and conveniently forgets that our prophet himself loved and revered his first wife, a woman 15 years older than him. So a story which normalized such a relationship would have been a winner for me. Instead, what we do have is the most blatant form of casual ageism I have encountered in a book.
She may have been beautiful once but age and weight had robbed her of any lingering attraction, transforming her into a shapeless bulk.
In fact, I can honestly say that the way women’s bodies are viewed in this novel is damaging at best and horrifying at worst. The only woman worth being, according to the author, is a young, nubile one, who is probably a mannequin and not a real human being, since all human beings are actually flawed in some form or another, but that is a memo that the author seems to have truly missed.
Ugly stretch marks lined the folds on loose fat around her midriff, and even in the dull glow of the lamps, he saw the cellulite on her legs. Her entire body sagged, perhaps once it had been voluptuous, everything a bit firmer, God a bit kinder, but now she reminded him of a wilted peach.
You could argue that that the withering effects of ageing are meant to indicate to the gentle reader who the antagonists of the story are, since an unfortunate but very commonly used writing trick is to equate evilness with ugliness, and for sure the author believes that all signs of ageing are ugly as hell. Except that even our heroine Mona, who is only 41, is shown as being beautiful despite her age. It’s like the world has played her a cruel hand by allowing her age to be visible on her body, and the young man she falls for, Ali, is honestly doing her a favor by paying any attention to her.
A series of fine lines crinkled around her eyes when she smiled. He still found her irresistible.
So, to summarize: ageing is a crime. Being too thin or too fat is also a crime, according to this book, based on the casual body shaming that summarily popped up, mostly to identify the bad people, as usual. In fact, for a book that seemed to want to focus so dedicatedly to the idea of women being friends and women looking out for each other, it sure spent a lot of time trying to criticize the way almost all of the female characters looked.
Shahida was shrouded in a purple banarsi sari, the bones in her thin body standing out beneath the richly tapered fabric. She looked like a starved vulture.
I think the problem over here is that the author simply has no idea what women think like or feel. I believe he had the best of intentions, and wanted to honestly depict a strong, complex female character as one of the protagonists of his tale, one who tries to balance a failing marriage with society’s expectations, and one who finds peace in love. The problem, of course, is that the author failed miserably at this goal.
“I’ve been groped three times tonight. I think it might be a record.”
“You look beautiful, Mona.”
Telling a woman she looks beautiful when she tells you she has been groped is not the proper response. Is that something other people need to be told? Will we need to be writing this down in manuals and spreading it around? I would have thought common decency would help characters navigate these treacherous conversational waters, but unfortunately both Ali and Mona are mouth pieces for an author who has a very complicated version of female empowerment in his head, and seems determined to uphold the kind of feminism he wants to believe in.
“You don’t need to flatter me to be my friend. I’m not one of those women.”
Oh, one of those women. I should have known to stop reading right at about this moment, because any character who claims to be better by separating herself from this imagined horde of insecure, simpering women is a character not worth rooting for. But I kept reading, idiot that I am, growing more and more frustrated with each passing moment with the progression of the plot. Mona and Ali’s affair, shown as a counterpoint to Mona’s horrible relationship with her husband, developed in such a slapdash, I’ve-met-you-twice-but-love-you manner that it threw me off completely. It just didn’t have the kind of spark to justify its presence. I already find adultery hard to digest, and found it harder to bear because the very premise of the affair was just so weak. If we had spent a longer period of time with Mira and her frustration, or with Ali and his slow, steady decline into what is clearly a morally questionable relationship, maybe I could have been convinced. As it is, the fact that they meet only a handful of superficial times before they are convinced that they are in love bothered me to no end.
She recognized it as love, and her heart sank and rose.
Personally, I treat love, and specifically romantic love, as a privilege, but also as something I have worked hard for. For me, all other approximations of caring in a romantic manner count as shades of infatuation or lust, because love is something more resilient, bigger than roses or anniversary presents, a product of the time and effort I have spent into knowing my husband, inside and out. I don’t take that kind of thing lightly and have always believed that being in love should have a strong foundation in time spent, histories known, personalities understood. Any story where characters barely know each other but are willing to do all kinds of far-fetched things for each other in the name of love is bound to end with me huffing in disbelief. And it didn’t help that Ali got involved in horrible things that Mona never questioned.
“Have I ever questioned you about your involvement in that horrible incident? No, I did not. I never even brought up that topic because I know you. And I trust you.”
This isn’t a healthy, supportive relationship. This is blindness at its best. Loving someone doesn’t mean not questioning them about their possible involvement in . Love doesn’t mean never bringing up the fact that the person you’re with seems to have been involved in . At best, our heroine goes from one horribly abusive relationship to another equally messed up one.
“I know I shouldn’t have raised my hand against you, but you just… you force me. You can be so implacable at times. I mean, why dress so provocatively?”
On that note, Mona’s relationship with her husband, Bilal, is so dysfunctional that I spent a majority of the reading time just plain horrified. Honestly, it can’t be described in any way other than batshit insane. I feel like the author here was aiming for flawed and complex, and instead stumbled into ‘save this woman from this abuse’ territory.
This isn’t two individuals simply not meant for each other or at odds because of indifference; this is a man who uses his fists to make his points, and a woman who drinks and cheats with abandon. I’ve said before that adultery is the kind of flaw I find hard to forgive, and this novel lacks the nuance to convince me otherwise. I get that Mona’s husband is a sadistic asshole, but she definitely has the kind of agency which will allow her to walk away. Her mother-in-law, another cookie cutter stereotypical character, manages to exhibit what might be the sole moment of actual three-dimensional complexity within a character when she tells her son that if his wife wants to leave him, she will help her. So we know that Mona has the means to walk away, and yet she stays with Bilal, with the novel taking the truly bizarre turn of trying to paint Bilal as some tortured soul, unable to understand why his wife won’t just blindly listen to his every demand.
He now realized that he had tried to possess her and own her thoughts. In his own perverse way he had loved her.
No, no, and no. Bilal is a megalomaniac in every sense of the word, and there is no justifying his cruelty, and frankly speaking the book does itself a huge disservice by trying to portray him as a conflicted figure who deserves sympathy. Truly the only moments where I actually liked the book was when Mona exhibited the rare moments of sanity in the face of her abusive husband and tried to fight back.
“I might be a bastard most of the time, but I love you very much. You are the mother of my children. The love of my life.
“You have a funny way of showing it, Bilal.”
All in all, a very disturbing relationship, made worse by the fact that none of the other connections this couple have with other characters seem to provide any sort of balance away from this toxicity. Ali is already a damaging character, and Mona’s female friendships are mostly superficial and grating. Even Meera, an old friend that Mona re-connects with after a long time and who is supposedly the catalyst of the love affair, mostly flicks in and out of the story at opportune moments, never truly establishing a strong enough presence for us to care about or root for.
In fact, it would be safe to say that the women in this book mostly don’t like each other, and faithfully follow along the scripted lines set down by most Pakistani dramas, which are famous for being stereotypical and repetitive in their cruelty, both physical and otherwise, to women. The majority of dramas focus on saas-bahu enmity: I already knew, when Mona complained to her husband about her mother-in-law within the first introductory scene, that this book would follow the same path, and it didn’t disappoint.
“You called your mother, and didn’t even bother to check on me? What kind of a person are you?”
Honestly, if we were expecting some sort of genre defiance from this book, we’d be looking at the wrong place. All of the usual clichés about Lahore and the obsession of its populace with brand names pops up. It wouldn’t be unfair to say that this book is the weaker, uglier version of Mohsin Hamid’s Moth Smoke. Hamid’s work also featured an elitist Lahore, a boozy setting, and convoluted, adulterous relationships, but at least it had good writing and fairly interesting characters for us to rely on. This book doesn’t even have the decency to provide us with better sentence construction.
Each shawl cost a whooping one million rupees, much more expensive than the average Chanel or Louis Vuitton stole. Even in her despondent state, Mona felt a prick of desire for them.
I only gave this book an extra star because I have read Pakistani literature that’s so much worse that in comparison this passes muster. But being better than the worst is really not some achievement worth aiming for, so I’m praying that the next book I read by this author provides a greater degree of enjoyment, or even basic sense. Here’s to hoping.
ORIGINAL COMMENT: I really need to find some good books to read. Review to come.
***
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This is a pretty frequent refrain amongst the readers I’ve met in this country, and the complaint has been repeated so many times at this point that most people I know believe it wholeheartedly. They don’t bother giving most Pakistani authors the time of the day, and while I’ve been arguing for years that we now have multiple genres being explored, it’s books like In the Company of Strangers that really force the whole Pakistani publishing industry to take one giant step back.
This title is an amalgamation of all of the worst stereotypes of the ‘Pakistani book’. It uses the same old boring tropes, introduces characters that are caricatures at best, and engages in some of the most ridiculous clichés of book publishing within this country. I had already stumbled across the italicization of the desi word in the first paragraph of the first chapter, a personal irritant that I simply can’t get over no matter how many times I find it. And to make matters worse, the italicized word was dupatta. Dupatta. The word is literally present in every other English dictionary. I’m pretty sure we can stop italicizing it now.
It didn’t get any better from there onwards. Within the very first chapter, the book had managed to thoroughly convince me that this wasn’t the place to look for good writing. The sentence construction was weak as hell, and don’t even get me started on comma usage. Honestly, working as an editor has taught me that a significant number of well-read, professionally trained people can still manage to disagree on where exactly a comma needs to be placed, but those disagreements usually occur in situations with subtle nuances. In a majority of the cases though, usually either a comma is in the right place or it is not. Unfortunately, in this book, it usually was not.
The fruit vendors shouting out tempting prices from their carts as they scratched their armpits, cars attempted to make their way through the gathering mess.
Look at the punctuation! Look at those tenses! Atrocious. Am I accidentally reading the third, unedited draft of this novel? Random capitalization also occurred: at one point, the word gora (italicized, obviously) started with a capital letter. Why? In which unholy editing universe were these decisions being taken? All I’m saying it, my precious little editorial heart suffered. And by the time we got to the mention of the CIA barely 3 percent into the book (mention of American intelligence agencies being another important part of a ‘Pakistani book’), I was already rolling my eyes. It was like I could see every hackneyed plot point well in advance.
The voice of their Leader rang in his head again like a drumbeat. It will be painless for you, Jihadi, but the pain of those kaafirs, those non-believers, will be unimaginable. Remember, they are not humans; they do not feel. They do not love. You shall be rewarded for this noble deed, my boy, you will go to heaven. Kill those kaafirs!’
So it’s safe to say that I went in expecting every cliché under the sun to be present. I mean, the boss of the suicide-loving gang was called the ‘Leader’. That should give you some idea of the amount of time that was spent on the world building. And I already knew that I could expect weak attempts at humanizing these characters, because authors love showing how flawed their characters are, no matter how badly they fail at doing so. So combine the questionable editorial style policy with the hare-brained representation of men doing violent things for religion, and we were already off to a great start.
These were the workings of Shaitan, the Satan.
Okay then.
I think what was even more frustrating about the whole thing was that there was such possibility. Our protagonist, Mona, is a woman in her forties who has an affair with a much younger man. On the surface, this is something I can totally get behind (the age gap, not the adultery, which we’ll get to in a second). A depiction well done would have had the honour of being one of the few desi novels which break the relationship age barrier. As a society, Pakistanis are always horrified at the slightest hint of a young man being connected in a romantic manner with an older woman. This from a country which prides itself on its religious beginnings, and conveniently forgets that our prophet himself loved and revered his first wife, a woman 15 years older than him. So a story which normalized such a relationship would have been a winner for me. Instead, what we do have is the most blatant form of casual ageism I have encountered in a book.
She may have been beautiful once but age and weight had robbed her of any lingering attraction, transforming her into a shapeless bulk.
In fact, I can honestly say that the way women’s bodies are viewed in this novel is damaging at best and horrifying at worst. The only woman worth being, according to the author, is a young, nubile one, who is probably a mannequin and not a real human being, since all human beings are actually flawed in some form or another, but that is a memo that the author seems to have truly missed.
Ugly stretch marks lined the folds on loose fat around her midriff, and even in the dull glow of the lamps, he saw the cellulite on her legs. Her entire body sagged, perhaps once it had been voluptuous, everything a bit firmer, God a bit kinder, but now she reminded him of a wilted peach.
You could argue that that the withering effects of ageing are meant to indicate to the gentle reader who the antagonists of the story are, since an unfortunate but very commonly used writing trick is to equate evilness with ugliness, and for sure the author believes that all signs of ageing are ugly as hell. Except that even our heroine Mona, who is only 41, is shown as being beautiful despite her age. It’s like the world has played her a cruel hand by allowing her age to be visible on her body, and the young man she falls for, Ali, is honestly doing her a favor by paying any attention to her.
A series of fine lines crinkled around her eyes when she smiled. He still found her irresistible.
So, to summarize: ageing is a crime. Being too thin or too fat is also a crime, according to this book, based on the casual body shaming that summarily popped up, mostly to identify the bad people, as usual. In fact, for a book that seemed to want to focus so dedicatedly to the idea of women being friends and women looking out for each other, it sure spent a lot of time trying to criticize the way almost all of the female characters looked.
Shahida was shrouded in a purple banarsi sari, the bones in her thin body standing out beneath the richly tapered fabric. She looked like a starved vulture.
I think the problem over here is that the author simply has no idea what women think like or feel. I believe he had the best of intentions, and wanted to honestly depict a strong, complex female character as one of the protagonists of his tale, one who tries to balance a failing marriage with society’s expectations, and one who finds peace in love. The problem, of course, is that the author failed miserably at this goal.
“I’ve been groped three times tonight. I think it might be a record.”
“You look beautiful, Mona.”
Telling a woman she looks beautiful when she tells you she has been groped is not the proper response. Is that something other people need to be told? Will we need to be writing this down in manuals and spreading it around? I would have thought common decency would help characters navigate these treacherous conversational waters, but unfortunately both Ali and Mona are mouth pieces for an author who has a very complicated version of female empowerment in his head, and seems determined to uphold the kind of feminism he wants to believe in.
“You don’t need to flatter me to be my friend. I’m not one of those women.”
Oh, one of those women. I should have known to stop reading right at about this moment, because any character who claims to be better by separating herself from this imagined horde of insecure, simpering women is a character not worth rooting for. But I kept reading, idiot that I am, growing more and more frustrated with each passing moment with the progression of the plot. Mona and Ali’s affair, shown as a counterpoint to Mona’s horrible relationship with her husband, developed in such a slapdash, I’ve-met-you-twice-but-love-you manner that it threw me off completely. It just didn’t have the kind of spark to justify its presence. I already find adultery hard to digest, and found it harder to bear because the very premise of the affair was just so weak. If we had spent a longer period of time with Mira and her frustration, or with Ali and his slow, steady decline into what is clearly a morally questionable relationship, maybe I could have been convinced. As it is, the fact that they meet only a handful of superficial times before they are convinced that they are in love bothered me to no end.
She recognized it as love, and her heart sank and rose.
Personally, I treat love, and specifically romantic love, as a privilege, but also as something I have worked hard for. For me, all other approximations of caring in a romantic manner count as shades of infatuation or lust, because love is something more resilient, bigger than roses or anniversary presents, a product of the time and effort I have spent into knowing my husband, inside and out. I don’t take that kind of thing lightly and have always believed that being in love should have a strong foundation in time spent, histories known, personalities understood. Any story where characters barely know each other but are willing to do all kinds of far-fetched things for each other in the name of love is bound to end with me huffing in disbelief. And it didn’t help that Ali got involved in horrible things that Mona never questioned.
“Have I ever questioned you about your involvement in that horrible incident? No, I did not. I never even brought up that topic because I know you. And I trust you.”
This isn’t a healthy, supportive relationship. This is blindness at its best. Loving someone doesn’t mean not questioning them about their possible involvement in . Love doesn’t mean never bringing up the fact that the person you’re with seems to have been involved in . At best, our heroine goes from one horribly abusive relationship to another equally messed up one.
“I know I shouldn’t have raised my hand against you, but you just… you force me. You can be so implacable at times. I mean, why dress so provocatively?”
On that note, Mona’s relationship with her husband, Bilal, is so dysfunctional that I spent a majority of the reading time just plain horrified. Honestly, it can’t be described in any way other than batshit insane. I feel like the author here was aiming for flawed and complex, and instead stumbled into ‘save this woman from this abuse’ territory.
This isn’t two individuals simply not meant for each other or at odds because of indifference; this is a man who uses his fists to make his points, and a woman who drinks and cheats with abandon. I’ve said before that adultery is the kind of flaw I find hard to forgive, and this novel lacks the nuance to convince me otherwise. I get that Mona’s husband is a sadistic asshole, but she definitely has the kind of agency which will allow her to walk away. Her mother-in-law, another cookie cutter stereotypical character, manages to exhibit what might be the sole moment of actual three-dimensional complexity within a character when she tells her son that if his wife wants to leave him, she will help her. So we know that Mona has the means to walk away, and yet she stays with Bilal, with the novel taking the truly bizarre turn of trying to paint Bilal as some tortured soul, unable to understand why his wife won’t just blindly listen to his every demand.
He now realized that he had tried to possess her and own her thoughts. In his own perverse way he had loved her.
No, no, and no. Bilal is a megalomaniac in every sense of the word, and there is no justifying his cruelty, and frankly speaking the book does itself a huge disservice by trying to portray him as a conflicted figure who deserves sympathy. Truly the only moments where I actually liked the book was when Mona exhibited the rare moments of sanity in the face of her abusive husband and tried to fight back.
“I might be a bastard most of the time, but I love you very much. You are the mother of my children. The love of my life.
“You have a funny way of showing it, Bilal.”
All in all, a very disturbing relationship, made worse by the fact that none of the other connections this couple have with other characters seem to provide any sort of balance away from this toxicity. Ali is already a damaging character, and Mona’s female friendships are mostly superficial and grating. Even Meera, an old friend that Mona re-connects with after a long time and who is supposedly the catalyst of the love affair, mostly flicks in and out of the story at opportune moments, never truly establishing a strong enough presence for us to care about or root for.
In fact, it would be safe to say that the women in this book mostly don’t like each other, and faithfully follow along the scripted lines set down by most Pakistani dramas, which are famous for being stereotypical and repetitive in their cruelty, both physical and otherwise, to women. The majority of dramas focus on saas-bahu enmity: I already knew, when Mona complained to her husband about her mother-in-law within the first introductory scene, that this book would follow the same path, and it didn’t disappoint.
“You called your mother, and didn’t even bother to check on me? What kind of a person are you?”
Honestly, if we were expecting some sort of genre defiance from this book, we’d be looking at the wrong place. All of the usual clichés about Lahore and the obsession of its populace with brand names pops up. It wouldn’t be unfair to say that this book is the weaker, uglier version of Mohsin Hamid’s Moth Smoke. Hamid’s work also featured an elitist Lahore, a boozy setting, and convoluted, adulterous relationships, but at least it had good writing and fairly interesting characters for us to rely on. This book doesn’t even have the decency to provide us with better sentence construction.
Each shawl cost a whooping one million rupees, much more expensive than the average Chanel or Louis Vuitton stole. Even in her despondent state, Mona felt a prick of desire for them.
I only gave this book an extra star because I have read Pakistani literature that’s so much worse that in comparison this passes muster. But being better than the worst is really not some achievement worth aiming for, so I’m praying that the next book I read by this author provides a greater degree of enjoyment, or even basic sense. Here’s to hoping.
ORIGINAL COMMENT: I really need to find some good books to read. Review to come.
***
I review Pakistani Fiction, and talk about Pakistani fiction, and want to talk to people who like to talk about fiction (Pakistani and otherwise, take your pick.) To read more reviews or just contact me so you can talk about books, check out my Blog or follow me on Twitter!
December 11, 2020
This is a big, fat DNF at page 50.
Usually, when I don't finish a book, I don't rate it but anything I can do to lower the collective rating of this book, I will do.
This is really one of the worst books I've picked up this entire year. It's an incredibly uninformed, biased and poorly researched. It's so clear that the author is male and doesn't know how women think, and talk and I did wonder at some point if we had ever spoken to a woman before in this life.
In 50 pages, the author peddled a pretty misogynistic mindset where he talked about women's bodies, unnecessarily sexualising women and writing about "heaving bosoms" in a scene where a woman is buying a shawl. He wrote about a woman who was groped and seemingly enjoyed it. He wrote about very ageist things, where a woman's only concern is how old she is.
I have a lot to say, every page is problematic. Save your time and money and skip this one.
Usually, when I don't finish a book, I don't rate it but anything I can do to lower the collective rating of this book, I will do.
This is really one of the worst books I've picked up this entire year. It's an incredibly uninformed, biased and poorly researched. It's so clear that the author is male and doesn't know how women think, and talk and I did wonder at some point if we had ever spoken to a woman before in this life.
In 50 pages, the author peddled a pretty misogynistic mindset where he talked about women's bodies, unnecessarily sexualising women and writing about "heaving bosoms" in a scene where a woman is buying a shawl. He wrote about a woman who was groped and seemingly enjoyed it. He wrote about very ageist things, where a woman's only concern is how old she is.
I have a lot to say, every page is problematic. Save your time and money and skip this one.
February 26, 2019
In the Company of Strangers is a stunning novel. Awais Khan's writing is fierce and compelling. I loved the way Lahore is described. The characters are multi-layered and complex. Must Read novel of 2019!
June 9, 2019
Astounding. This book takes you on a believable and immersive journey through Pakistani high society. The reader gets a real sense of how difficult that world can be to deal with, especially for a woman.
December 14, 2020
a sexist, elitist, classist book which degrades women and comments on women's bodies as "starved vultures", body shames women, thinks women over 40 don't have a right to live, uses analogies that are disrespectful targeting sex workers, is written for the "western audience" in portraying Lahore and Pakistan to be a certain way, full of stereotypes.
DNF at page 143, save your time and money. there are better books to read.
DNF at page 143, save your time and money. there are better books to read.
August 31, 2020
A book that takes your through the intricate layers of Pakistani and Lahore in particular. Awais Khan writes with a wonderfully descriptive, evocative and sensory style, but also delivers a powerful narrative, reflecting the complexity and diversity of Pakistan; it's beauty and wealth, it's fervent extremists and privileged elites. Against such a rich and colourful background, Awais Khan weaves a story of relationships - encapsulating longing, abandonment, love, jealousy, fulfilment and desire.
A beautiful book, and a beautifully written debut. I can not recommend reading In The Company Of Strangers highly enough.
A beautiful book, and a beautifully written debut. I can not recommend reading In The Company Of Strangers highly enough.
June 26, 2019
Captivating story. Reading it for the second time
June 29, 2022
An eye opening look into the secrets and lies of Pakistani high society!
“In The Company of Strangers is a moving tale of love and loss and human frailties set amidst starkly contrasting sections of society in Pakistan.”
Khaleej Times
"Captivating and social inspired"
HELLO! Pakistan
"An innate storyteller"
Journal of Commonwealth Literature
“This book arrests a reader’s attention till the end. There is hardly a dull moment in Awais Khan’s In the Company of Strangers. Read it. You may want to send a ‘thank you’ note to the novelist.”
The Free Press Journal
“Khan spins a tight story that explores multiple facets of humanity or, occasionally, the lack of it. To his credit, Khan manages to achieve that gold standard of good fiction writing: show, don ‘t tell. It manages to achieve just enough unpredictability to throw you off. All in all, a decent read.”
DAWN
“I particularly loved Khan’s book because he managed to write his female South Asian characters as people who actually exist. The book also touches upon some sensitive topics but manages to do so while maintaining its gripping tone and appearance of everyday life in Lahore.”
Book Riot
“Khan explores the double speak of this segment of the society, the stereotypes they hold of others and the ones they live with. It is a fast paced read without any parts where it feels like a drag and this is a big plus for a debut novel.”
Mashable Pakistan
“The debut novel explores the lives of Lahore’s beau monde and the seedy underbelly the glitter of their lives obscure.”
Outlook India
“A revelation!"
Pakistan Today
“An engrossing novel that takes one into the underbelly of Lahore’s high society and lets you in one some of the city’s best kept secrets!”
Newsline
“Observant, poignant and exceptionally nuanced, Awais Khan’s In the Company of Strangers opens a vista onto Lahore – a city of contradictions that survives on resilience.”
Daily Times
"Khan shows promise. His language is modern and he knows how to bring in a Lahori flavor both to the dialogues and narration. That’s a good skill to have for a writer of fiction.”
The News International
“Khan digs deep into the perversity of Lahore’s upper class circles. Khan’s gripping narrative brings together complex characters. Khan’s book should be read for its brutal portrayal of people who find themselves caged by fidelity and familial obligations.’
The Daily Telegraph (Kolkata)
"In the Company of Strangers is a beautifully observed novel that opens a window on a milieu of Pakistani society that is seldom written about. His storytelling transports you to a far-flung world but the dilemmas his characters face will be familiar wherever you live."
Anita Chaudhuri, Journalist (Psychologies Magazines; The Guardian)
‘Set in an urban contemporary Pakistan, Awais Khan’s debut novel In the Company of Strangers is a thoroughly enjoyable, sensitive and fast paced read about the choices we make or are forced to make. Khan explores delicate issues with a deft touch through complicated characters. A riveting debut”.
Soniah Kamal, Author of Unmarriageable (Ballantine Books; Alison & Busby)
‘In the Company of Strangers is a stunning novel. Awais Khan's writing is fierce and compelling. It's a novel to be savoured, a debut to cherish.'
Faiqa Mansab, Author of This House of Clay & Water (Penguin India)
“In The Company of Strangers is a moving tale of love and loss and human frailties set amidst starkly contrasting sections of society in Pakistan.”
Khaleej Times
"Captivating and social inspired"
HELLO! Pakistan
"An innate storyteller"
Journal of Commonwealth Literature
“This book arrests a reader’s attention till the end. There is hardly a dull moment in Awais Khan’s In the Company of Strangers. Read it. You may want to send a ‘thank you’ note to the novelist.”
The Free Press Journal
“Khan spins a tight story that explores multiple facets of humanity or, occasionally, the lack of it. To his credit, Khan manages to achieve that gold standard of good fiction writing: show, don ‘t tell. It manages to achieve just enough unpredictability to throw you off. All in all, a decent read.”
DAWN
“I particularly loved Khan’s book because he managed to write his female South Asian characters as people who actually exist. The book also touches upon some sensitive topics but manages to do so while maintaining its gripping tone and appearance of everyday life in Lahore.”
Book Riot
“Khan explores the double speak of this segment of the society, the stereotypes they hold of others and the ones they live with. It is a fast paced read without any parts where it feels like a drag and this is a big plus for a debut novel.”
Mashable Pakistan
“The debut novel explores the lives of Lahore’s beau monde and the seedy underbelly the glitter of their lives obscure.”
Outlook India
“A revelation!"
Pakistan Today
“An engrossing novel that takes one into the underbelly of Lahore’s high society and lets you in one some of the city’s best kept secrets!”
Newsline
“Observant, poignant and exceptionally nuanced, Awais Khan’s In the Company of Strangers opens a vista onto Lahore – a city of contradictions that survives on resilience.”
Daily Times
"Khan shows promise. His language is modern and he knows how to bring in a Lahori flavor both to the dialogues and narration. That’s a good skill to have for a writer of fiction.”
The News International
“Khan digs deep into the perversity of Lahore’s upper class circles. Khan’s gripping narrative brings together complex characters. Khan’s book should be read for its brutal portrayal of people who find themselves caged by fidelity and familial obligations.’
The Daily Telegraph (Kolkata)
"In the Company of Strangers is a beautifully observed novel that opens a window on a milieu of Pakistani society that is seldom written about. His storytelling transports you to a far-flung world but the dilemmas his characters face will be familiar wherever you live."
Anita Chaudhuri, Journalist (Psychologies Magazines; The Guardian)
‘Set in an urban contemporary Pakistan, Awais Khan’s debut novel In the Company of Strangers is a thoroughly enjoyable, sensitive and fast paced read about the choices we make or are forced to make. Khan explores delicate issues with a deft touch through complicated characters. A riveting debut”.
Soniah Kamal, Author of Unmarriageable (Ballantine Books; Alison & Busby)
‘In the Company of Strangers is a stunning novel. Awais Khan's writing is fierce and compelling. It's a novel to be savoured, a debut to cherish.'
Faiqa Mansab, Author of This House of Clay & Water (Penguin India)
June 8, 2019
Absolutely stunning. An intricate look at Pakistani high society and how stifling it can be for people. This book is excellent for people in the West who want to enjoy a different take on Pakistan and the region
February 24, 2019
Having received an advance copy from Awais was a surprise gift that I would cherish for quite sometime to come.
Written with a captivating narrative it keeps the reader committed till the last word.
Truly a goodread. Highly recommended.
Written with a captivating narrative it keeps the reader committed till the last word.
Truly a goodread. Highly recommended.
August 5, 2019
4☆ A Hard Hitting Powerful and Evocative Read!
Have you ever wondered how 'The other half live' so to speak?
Well in this evocative and captivating story you get to see exactly that.
Awais takes the reader into the murky underbelly of Lahori's Highest Society, where only the privileged are allowed.
In The Company Of Strangers is a Unique and Thought Provoking story that delves into a different world and all the politics, social stature, and issues that go with it.
The Characters are deeply flawed, yet perfectly written and believable for the story.
There are plenty of sensitive subjects such as terrorism, assault, to name a few which some readers may find hard. But Awais handles them perfectly.
If you are looking for a Unique Commercial Fiction that is Poignant, hard hitting, thought provoking, then you will thoroughly enjoy In The Company Of Strangers by Awais Khan
Thank you to Rachel Random Resources for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
My Review is also on my Blog Website :-
https://dashfan81.blogspot.com/2019/0...
Have you ever wondered how 'The other half live' so to speak?
Well in this evocative and captivating story you get to see exactly that.
Awais takes the reader into the murky underbelly of Lahori's Highest Society, where only the privileged are allowed.
In The Company Of Strangers is a Unique and Thought Provoking story that delves into a different world and all the politics, social stature, and issues that go with it.
The Characters are deeply flawed, yet perfectly written and believable for the story.
There are plenty of sensitive subjects such as terrorism, assault, to name a few which some readers may find hard. But Awais handles them perfectly.
If you are looking for a Unique Commercial Fiction that is Poignant, hard hitting, thought provoking, then you will thoroughly enjoy In The Company Of Strangers by Awais Khan
Thank you to Rachel Random Resources for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
My Review is also on my Blog Website :-
https://dashfan81.blogspot.com/2019/0...
August 3, 2019
Awais Khan writing is incredibly beautiful, and In the Company of Strangers has the potential to be one of my favorite reads of this year. This is one of the books I read so quickly because I couldn’t put it down, but then I immediately regretted reading it so fast, because I didn’t want it to be over!
I love how the narrative switches between each character, each chapter. What’s so wonderful is that each voice is uniquely distinctive, and I immediately recognized each other. That takes some real talent, and I am now a huge fan of Awais Khan’s writing!
In the Company of Strangers is rich, captivating and extremely compelling. It’s beautifully written, with deep, complex characters and a look at the Pakistan society. Fascinating. Highly, highly recommended!
*I received a copy of this book as part of a blog tour with Rachel's Random Resources. All opinions are my own.*
Find this review and more on my blog: https://www.jessicabelmont.wordpress.com
I love how the narrative switches between each character, each chapter. What’s so wonderful is that each voice is uniquely distinctive, and I immediately recognized each other. That takes some real talent, and I am now a huge fan of Awais Khan’s writing!
In the Company of Strangers is rich, captivating and extremely compelling. It’s beautifully written, with deep, complex characters and a look at the Pakistan society. Fascinating. Highly, highly recommended!
*I received a copy of this book as part of a blog tour with Rachel's Random Resources. All opinions are my own.*
Find this review and more on my blog: https://www.jessicabelmont.wordpress.com
December 21, 2019
I rarely hate a book so much. It was a cliched book pandering to the western notion of the 'lahori high society'. It had no essence, no depth, and no real idea about the real consequences of terrorism on people. In making a superfluous society the center of its attention, and neglecting every other peoples, this book has shown once again, that Pakistani writers do not really care about their own people, and only portray a westernised version lacking true depth.
I was really looking forward to reading this book, but it left me in anger.
I was really looking forward to reading this book, but it left me in anger.
June 7, 2020
Enjoyed every bit of it!
February 24, 2019
A walk down to the streets of Lahore, and oh how beautifully every single detail is described. The writing style is captivating and the story is the best treat of the year so far...
February 25, 2019
Very excited for the book! The story seems to be woven with rich colours and intricate patterns and I'm sure this book will create a hype! Can't wait.
June 8, 2019
Fabulous!
"In the Company of Strangers" is, by far, one of the best novels that I have read in a while -- and I read a lot. The descriptions of Lahore and the societal strata in modern Pakistan are captivating. The author has crafted captivating, multi-dimensional characters, none of which is perfect, but each of which I felt drawn to, in a different way.
This book is marvelously written. Every other chapter is told in a different style, from another character's point of view (the alternating chapters are told from the protagonist's point of view). The changes in tone are extremely realistic, and showcase the author's obivious talent.
I found the first couple of chapters a little confusing, at the outset, but they became clear as the book continued -- in fact, when I finished the book, I immediately turned to and reread the beginning. I have never done this before.
I very highly recommend this book, which is, in reality, a colorful fable.
"In the Company of Strangers" is, by far, one of the best novels that I have read in a while -- and I read a lot. The descriptions of Lahore and the societal strata in modern Pakistan are captivating. The author has crafted captivating, multi-dimensional characters, none of which is perfect, but each of which I felt drawn to, in a different way.
This book is marvelously written. Every other chapter is told in a different style, from another character's point of view (the alternating chapters are told from the protagonist's point of view). The changes in tone are extremely realistic, and showcase the author's obivious talent.
I found the first couple of chapters a little confusing, at the outset, but they became clear as the book continued -- in fact, when I finished the book, I immediately turned to and reread the beginning. I have never done this before.
I very highly recommend this book, which is, in reality, a colorful fable.
May 8, 2020
Review to follow.
June 13, 2020
This book was a lot of things but one thing it was not was unrealistic. I deem is necessary to mention that because lately I have been seeing and reading books by Pakistani Authors that seem to be highly affected by cheap Bollywood movies without as much as a grain of ground Pakistani reality in them. Whereas, Awais raised a number of societal problems in Mona’s story that I found profoundly factual and relatable Apart from authenticity, I really enjoyed the writing, the constructive way the plot progressed, the alternating POVs were absolutely helpful in getting a better insight into the matters at hand. Amidst all the good things, there were times when I felt the need of more details, like the reasons behind Mona’s frequent mood shifts or why she behaved the way she did at certain points was insufficient.
All in all, I thoroughly cherished reading this brilliant debut book by Awais. The exquisite story with a perfect ending, loved it to bits!
Synopsis: Mona is at the point in her life where she has grown weary of all the things that she once loved, money, diamonds, friends, the charm she once felt in being one of the members of High Elite class of Lahore and even her husband. Then she hears the news of Meera coming back to the city with a brand new Fashion/Modelling Firm and she is invited to her debut Fashion show. Memories of that horrible night 20 years ago, that she has locked away in the deepest corners of her heart, come flooding back to remind her the reason that caused Mona and Meera to drift apart. Blinking away the bad vibes, she decides to go to the part that’s going to change the entire course of her life.
One Terrorist organization in an anonymous place is planning to cast another bomb in the very heart of the city. But this time the Socialites who are the perpetrators of various great sins like adultery, infidelity, illegal businesses are their target… but how to get past the high security these no-good parties have? They have just the perfect man for that. The famous fashion model, Ali.
All in all, I thoroughly cherished reading this brilliant debut book by Awais. The exquisite story with a perfect ending, loved it to bits!
Synopsis: Mona is at the point in her life where she has grown weary of all the things that she once loved, money, diamonds, friends, the charm she once felt in being one of the members of High Elite class of Lahore and even her husband. Then she hears the news of Meera coming back to the city with a brand new Fashion/Modelling Firm and she is invited to her debut Fashion show. Memories of that horrible night 20 years ago, that she has locked away in the deepest corners of her heart, come flooding back to remind her the reason that caused Mona and Meera to drift apart. Blinking away the bad vibes, she decides to go to the part that’s going to change the entire course of her life.
One Terrorist organization in an anonymous place is planning to cast another bomb in the very heart of the city. But this time the Socialites who are the perpetrators of various great sins like adultery, infidelity, illegal businesses are their target… but how to get past the high security these no-good parties have? They have just the perfect man for that. The famous fashion model, Ali.
June 17, 2021
I don’t know Pakistan or Lahore but Kahn brought it to life vibrantly in all its glory and underbelly.
The novel opens with a suicide bomber in Lahore and Kahn’s prose grips immediately - but the story doesn’t unfold in the way you think it will. Greed and power and abuse have a hold on every character in one form or another and I found myself rooting for unlikely relationship of Mona and Ali - especially as more layers of her marriage to the odious Bilal were revealed.
Human darkness is shown throughout the different levels of Lahore’s society and Kahn doesn’t shy away from - or judge - people’s more challenging behaviour. There are moral journeys played out wonderfully in this novel, not least Ali’s.
Beautifully written with humour and sensitivity, this is a wonderful debut.
The novel opens with a suicide bomber in Lahore and Kahn’s prose grips immediately - but the story doesn’t unfold in the way you think it will. Greed and power and abuse have a hold on every character in one form or another and I found myself rooting for unlikely relationship of Mona and Ali - especially as more layers of her marriage to the odious Bilal were revealed.
Human darkness is shown throughout the different levels of Lahore’s society and Kahn doesn’t shy away from - or judge - people’s more challenging behaviour. There are moral journeys played out wonderfully in this novel, not least Ali’s.
Beautifully written with humour and sensitivity, this is a wonderful debut.
July 8, 2021
*SPOILER ALERT* If you haven’t read this novel please avoid this review as it contains major spoilers.
I’ve just finished reading Awais Khan novel ‘In the company of strangers’ and it feels like I have fallen in love. Just to clarify, with the BOOK, in case threaded eyebrows are raised. To begin with, I was quite sceptical, I had a feeling that this was another Mohsin Hamid, and maybe a version of Moth Smoke but I am so glad that it wasn’t. It stands in a different class altogether.
The story grabs you from the first line and throws you in the current of a fast-paced stream. It doesn’t let you go, even for a second. The end of lines, paragraphs and chapters don’t feel like a break, they simply flow on and you are consumed by an urgency to read more. It’s not the suspenseful bits that Khan leaves hanging like bait splattered through the novel, like Mona’s mysterious night or Ali’s dark past, it’s the writing style itself that’s fluid, like water. It takes you firmly by the hand and leads you on through a labyrinth of parties, blast venues and terrorist cells. It twirls you around a heady romance and brings you face to face with mind-numbing violence.
At the end of the short prologue, I had a glimpse into the life, thoughts and motivations of a terrorist all set to blow up a building and I could empathise with him. That awed me. I didn’t want to, but I did. Likewise, I didn’t want to condone the affair between a forty-year-old married Mona and the model Ali ten years her junior, but I ended up cheering for their love story. That alone shows the power of the author. He could have written about a dung beetle courting a butterfly and described it so convincingly that I would be cheering for them as well.
Many chapters in, I was still confused about the reason behind the constant fights between Mona and Bilal but then the writer adds that one bone-chilling scene of shocking violence that explains it all. The pieces fall together and I dart to Mona’s side. I still couldn’t relate to her though. For me, her motivation for staying in an abusive marriage was unfathomable. If faced with her situation, I would have probably chosen to go back to putting ash in my eyes mixed with kajal than getting excited over a red ball gown the husband got me, and then the next minute strangled me casually to prove a point.
However, most of the time I was quite happy in the company (pun intended) of Ali, and not just because of his good looks or great body. He was the most relatable character for me and his motivations and temptations were crystal clear. He had sinned, fallen, and was flawed but he was constantly struggling with moral dilemmas and trying to do the right thing, as most of us do. All of us make mistakes but we try to get back on the right path.
The plotting of the novel is brilliant. The exposition, rise, climax and hamartia are all easily discernible. It’s great literature yet feels decadent, like a scandal served with gossip and dark chocolate.
I was left floundering a little about the Pakistan I know as opposed to the Pakistan in the novel. I am obviously not from the upper class mentioned in the novel (which makes this is a moot point anyway), where mujras and drugs happen in gorgeous havelis, Indian singers casually sit around singing 90’s ditties to entertain us, whiskey is consumed like Ovaltine at night, backless gowns are worn by sophisticated society ladies and fountains of alcohol are flowing in bars. At this point I remembered a dialogue from a Shammi Kapoor movie where the comedian remarks, ‘Mujhe bar dikha de ek baar!’ which is what I was wanting to ask Khan, can you show me where these bars are in Pakistan, just for curiosity’s sake, no evil intentions, promise! For me a Pakistani party meant a buffet thrown together on the dining room table and thanda cola was all the drinks we got. Thus, the only person I could come close to being in the novel was the poor maid who gives disapproving looks when Mona dons a skimpy Chantilly lace dress to ward off pendu suiters for her daughter.
I think the novel may be set in Pakistan and raises some very pertinent issues around it but doesn’t belong to it. It has a universal quality and appeal. It has the magic to woo anyone, any race, any country and any culture.
Loved it, would give it 10 out of the required 5 stars.
Please follow:
https://www.instagram.com/salmah_arj/...
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I’ve just finished reading Awais Khan novel ‘In the company of strangers’ and it feels like I have fallen in love. Just to clarify, with the BOOK, in case threaded eyebrows are raised. To begin with, I was quite sceptical, I had a feeling that this was another Mohsin Hamid, and maybe a version of Moth Smoke but I am so glad that it wasn’t. It stands in a different class altogether.
The story grabs you from the first line and throws you in the current of a fast-paced stream. It doesn’t let you go, even for a second. The end of lines, paragraphs and chapters don’t feel like a break, they simply flow on and you are consumed by an urgency to read more. It’s not the suspenseful bits that Khan leaves hanging like bait splattered through the novel, like Mona’s mysterious night or Ali’s dark past, it’s the writing style itself that’s fluid, like water. It takes you firmly by the hand and leads you on through a labyrinth of parties, blast venues and terrorist cells. It twirls you around a heady romance and brings you face to face with mind-numbing violence.
At the end of the short prologue, I had a glimpse into the life, thoughts and motivations of a terrorist all set to blow up a building and I could empathise with him. That awed me. I didn’t want to, but I did. Likewise, I didn’t want to condone the affair between a forty-year-old married Mona and the model Ali ten years her junior, but I ended up cheering for their love story. That alone shows the power of the author. He could have written about a dung beetle courting a butterfly and described it so convincingly that I would be cheering for them as well.
Many chapters in, I was still confused about the reason behind the constant fights between Mona and Bilal but then the writer adds that one bone-chilling scene of shocking violence that explains it all. The pieces fall together and I dart to Mona’s side. I still couldn’t relate to her though. For me, her motivation for staying in an abusive marriage was unfathomable. If faced with her situation, I would have probably chosen to go back to putting ash in my eyes mixed with kajal than getting excited over a red ball gown the husband got me, and then the next minute strangled me casually to prove a point.
However, most of the time I was quite happy in the company (pun intended) of Ali, and not just because of his good looks or great body. He was the most relatable character for me and his motivations and temptations were crystal clear. He had sinned, fallen, and was flawed but he was constantly struggling with moral dilemmas and trying to do the right thing, as most of us do. All of us make mistakes but we try to get back on the right path.
The plotting of the novel is brilliant. The exposition, rise, climax and hamartia are all easily discernible. It’s great literature yet feels decadent, like a scandal served with gossip and dark chocolate.
I was left floundering a little about the Pakistan I know as opposed to the Pakistan in the novel. I am obviously not from the upper class mentioned in the novel (which makes this is a moot point anyway), where mujras and drugs happen in gorgeous havelis, Indian singers casually sit around singing 90’s ditties to entertain us, whiskey is consumed like Ovaltine at night, backless gowns are worn by sophisticated society ladies and fountains of alcohol are flowing in bars. At this point I remembered a dialogue from a Shammi Kapoor movie where the comedian remarks, ‘Mujhe bar dikha de ek baar!’ which is what I was wanting to ask Khan, can you show me where these bars are in Pakistan, just for curiosity’s sake, no evil intentions, promise! For me a Pakistani party meant a buffet thrown together on the dining room table and thanda cola was all the drinks we got. Thus, the only person I could come close to being in the novel was the poor maid who gives disapproving looks when Mona dons a skimpy Chantilly lace dress to ward off pendu suiters for her daughter.
I think the novel may be set in Pakistan and raises some very pertinent issues around it but doesn’t belong to it. It has a universal quality and appeal. It has the magic to woo anyone, any race, any country and any culture.
Loved it, would give it 10 out of the required 5 stars.
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https://www.instagram.com/salmah_arj/...
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October 23, 2020
It has been a very long time since I last read a Pakistani author or a book set within my home country--I think Moth Smoke was my last and it was definitely more than 4 years or so ago. In The Company of Strangers was not the ideal set-in-Pakistan book I was looking for, but it definitely was a good kick-starter to remind me that I must restart my exploration of desi literature.
I have a lot of opinions on this book, of course, but I feel I must restrain my personal perspectives because, firstly, I would like to do justice to my review and not give away spoilers and, secondly, I would not want to unintentionally turn away readers. This book is actually worth a shot--especially if you can appreciate some genuine Pakistani drama, taboo Pakistani romance, the loathsome Pakistani elite society, and the resident terrorists which roam our land.
The plot is seemingly simple, but convoluted within human sentimentality and cultural beliefs. The writing is actually excellent! I enjoyed the witty dialogue and the way the author played around with words, occasionally peppering in some of the Urdu or Punjabi lingo. This isn't a very happy book (I mean, it's about Pakistan so that makes a lot of sense), but if nothing else, it serves as a nice stroll through nostalgia road for many Pakistani readers.
To punctuate with some quotes, the book starts with describing vibrant imagery which all Pakistanis can unanimously picture...
...to noting the little religious actions part of our daily lives...
...to aptly explaining the dynamic existence of every big Pakistani city...
...to the evil in-laws...
...to hating the poor neighbouring Indians...
...while neither sparing the not-so-poor very far away Americans...
...but still being diverse and inclusive of our national car...
...and acknowledging the best city, of course...
...and also acknowledging the best city (did I mention that?)
Ah! It is indeed! Anyway, the amount of patriarchy the book is riddled with is testament to the extent of the problem in our society. I had a bit of an issue about how the author did not seem to acknowledge a few problematic parts as loudly as I would have liked, but then again, one can argue that he had executed some great and distinctive character narratives without interfering his own thoughts in the matter. Other issues I had concern the ending and some un-elaborated plotlines, but nothing too serious to deter me from writing a long review on goodreads about the novel.
All in all, a 3.5/5.
Recommended to all mature aged Pakistani readers.
Not recommended to people who are easily offended by patriarchal abuse.
I have a lot of opinions on this book, of course, but I feel I must restrain my personal perspectives because, firstly, I would like to do justice to my review and not give away spoilers and, secondly, I would not want to unintentionally turn away readers. This book is actually worth a shot--especially if you can appreciate some genuine Pakistani drama, taboo Pakistani romance, the loathsome Pakistani elite society, and the resident terrorists which roam our land.
The plot is seemingly simple, but convoluted within human sentimentality and cultural beliefs. The writing is actually excellent! I enjoyed the witty dialogue and the way the author played around with words, occasionally peppering in some of the Urdu or Punjabi lingo. This isn't a very happy book (I mean, it's about Pakistan so that makes a lot of sense), but if nothing else, it serves as a nice stroll through nostalgia road for many Pakistani readers.
To punctuate with some quotes, the book starts with describing vibrant imagery which all Pakistanis can unanimously picture...
''His nose drew him toward the aroma of manure where a pair of black buffaloes idled in an open field littered with garbage.''
...to noting the little religious actions part of our daily lives...
''Reciting an Ayat from the Holy Quran, she took a deep breath, and blew it across the bathroom in an attempt to ward off evil.''
...to aptly explaining the dynamic existence of every big Pakistani city...
''During the day, a battle of endurance raged through the city. From the people in luxury cars to those in donkey carts, there pulsed an incessant need to survive, to overtake fate and transform it into something desirable. Street vendors shouted out lunch specials, beggars paraded posh avenues, while busy executives sped down boulevards in their swanky cars, leaving the sweaty, grim-faced , middle-income people to board buses and minivans.''
...to the evil in-laws...
''... for Gods sake don't make life anymore difficult for my son.''
...to hating the poor neighbouring Indians...
''It practically shares its boundary wall with India. You don't want people to think you're colluding with the Indians.''
...while neither sparing the not-so-poor very far away Americans...
''Playing right into the hands of Americans.''
...but still being diverse and inclusive of our national car...
''Gul drove a small Suzuki Mehran.''
...and acknowledging the best city, of course...
''No, it's not a regular show here in Lahore. I'm talking about the big show we are having in Karachi next week.''
...and also acknowledging the best city (did I mention that?)
''Karachi?''
''Yes, Karachi. It's quite something, right?''
Ah! It is indeed! Anyway, the amount of patriarchy the book is riddled with is testament to the extent of the problem in our society. I had a bit of an issue about how the author did not seem to acknowledge a few problematic parts as loudly as I would have liked, but then again, one can argue that he had executed some great and distinctive character narratives without interfering his own thoughts in the matter. Other issues I had concern the ending and some un-elaborated plotlines, but nothing too serious to deter me from writing a long review on goodreads about the novel.
All in all, a 3.5/5.
Recommended to all mature aged Pakistani readers.
Not recommended to people who are easily offended by patriarchal abuse.
December 25, 2020
Another contemporary, commercial fiction centered around Lahori elites, extravagant parties, booze, unhappy marriages, sordid affairs and clandestine romance, scandalous modeling world, religious conservatism and terrorist bombings with an extremely Bollywood-esque love ending. I wouldn’t have written a review for a clichéd, stereotypical and recycled plot, had it not been for the horrid way the author described women and their bodies.
The vile, sexist and derogatory objectification and raggedy ass metaphors used for women makes one wonder if the author is competing with the dank meme community of teenage incels to see who can top the misogynist “what-object-are-women-today” analogies.
“pallid vegetables”
“wilted peaches”
“starved vulture”
“expired meat”
“as precious as virgins on a hot night”
“Heera Mandi trash”
“…to be bought and sold like whores on the street”
I really tried hard to give the benefit of the doubt to the author, thinking the language is portraying the toxicity of the situation but nope. One can feel it’s unnecessary, random and blatant body shaming, overly sexualized objectification, ageist because it constantly shames women for being over 40, ugly and old and offensive slut shaming comparisons targeting sex workers. One can tell the author doesn’t understand how women’s bodies work since he thinks that 40 year olds have zero sexual appetite and life left and even goes on to sound like a creep implying that how 40+ women should be “thankful” for any crumbs of male validation and attention thrown their way.
There so much problematic with this book and the blatant sexism and misogyny is biased because the male characters are hardly described in such a lewd manner, no matter how abdominal they were.
It’s almost 2021 and yet this author is still peddling such a mindset and narrative. What an exhausting and a bleak reminder how deep misogyny runs in our society and how easily men get away with it.
I feel sad for the impressionable young women reading such trash narratives of women body’s and internalizing it.
“Ugly stretch marks lined the folds of loose fat around her midriff, and even in the dull glow of the lamps, he saw the cellulite on her legs. Her entire body sagged; perhaps once it had been voluptuous, everything a bit firmer, God a bit kinder, but now she reminded him of a wilted peach. As if someone had sucked all the juice from her body, leaving only dead flesh behind.”
Yuck,no! Please do better, Mr. Khan.
The vile, sexist and derogatory objectification and raggedy ass metaphors used for women makes one wonder if the author is competing with the dank meme community of teenage incels to see who can top the misogynist “what-object-are-women-today” analogies.
“pallid vegetables”
“wilted peaches”
“starved vulture”
“expired meat”
“as precious as virgins on a hot night”
“Heera Mandi trash”
“…to be bought and sold like whores on the street”
I really tried hard to give the benefit of the doubt to the author, thinking the language is portraying the toxicity of the situation but nope. One can feel it’s unnecessary, random and blatant body shaming, overly sexualized objectification, ageist because it constantly shames women for being over 40, ugly and old and offensive slut shaming comparisons targeting sex workers. One can tell the author doesn’t understand how women’s bodies work since he thinks that 40 year olds have zero sexual appetite and life left and even goes on to sound like a creep implying that how 40+ women should be “thankful” for any crumbs of male validation and attention thrown their way.
There so much problematic with this book and the blatant sexism and misogyny is biased because the male characters are hardly described in such a lewd manner, no matter how abdominal they were.
It’s almost 2021 and yet this author is still peddling such a mindset and narrative. What an exhausting and a bleak reminder how deep misogyny runs in our society and how easily men get away with it.
I feel sad for the impressionable young women reading such trash narratives of women body’s and internalizing it.
“Ugly stretch marks lined the folds of loose fat around her midriff, and even in the dull glow of the lamps, he saw the cellulite on her legs. Her entire body sagged; perhaps once it had been voluptuous, everything a bit firmer, God a bit kinder, but now she reminded him of a wilted peach. As if someone had sucked all the juice from her body, leaving only dead flesh behind.”
Yuck,no! Please do better, Mr. Khan.
May 31, 2020
Another Terrorist Story ? Not Quite , though the story kicks off with the suicide blast as Awais Khan ushers into the lives of the rich and famous of Lahore. I personally perceived the theme of the story knitted around human greed and deprivation be it, of Money of Love or of Power , and how it exists regardless of what level of social class you reside at. What truly impressed me was how immaculately and accurately the author painted a true picture of the high in our social order and also the struggling upstarts who find themselves embroiled and entangled with the upper class as their paths briefly coincide in situations unlikely and how ALWAYS it all comes crashing down one day. I was thrilled as the author’s talent to build the characters with not going over board with too much description and playing the strokes JUST RIGHT. Im not going to indulge into the story as to spoil it for whoever reads this but I’d just say that once the story picks up pace you don’t want to drop it.
I’ll be frank I had my inhibitions picking up this book for one , I haven’t really read many desi writers (assuming we don’t consider Kamila Shamsi desi) and the only one time I picked up on I did not finish. But this , this was different stuff. I was taken aback my how perfectly Awais has laid down the story to the extent that it doesn’t feel like this was a debut novel. I usually look for two things in a fiction when I read one, Pace of the Story OR Compassion , if its not Amor Towles’ish beautiful prose. What pleasantly surprised me was that the story line was perfect paced with an evenly balance level of prose throughout the novel . The hard work that must have gone into this work became almost palpable . The way Awais handled the climate, this is pro stuff guys it just does NOT feel like a debut novel.
This ladies and gents here is a promising writer with bags full of talent. I almost want to have coffee with him and pick on his brains. Im Super Super Glad I ordered a signed copy (which is a treasure now). Looking forward to more things from you awais khan and thank you for helping me gain trust with our homie authors. Bravo!!!
I’ll be frank I had my inhibitions picking up this book for one , I haven’t really read many desi writers (assuming we don’t consider Kamila Shamsi desi) and the only one time I picked up on I did not finish. But this , this was different stuff. I was taken aback my how perfectly Awais has laid down the story to the extent that it doesn’t feel like this was a debut novel. I usually look for two things in a fiction when I read one, Pace of the Story OR Compassion , if its not Amor Towles’ish beautiful prose. What pleasantly surprised me was that the story line was perfect paced with an evenly balance level of prose throughout the novel . The hard work that must have gone into this work became almost palpable . The way Awais handled the climate, this is pro stuff guys it just does NOT feel like a debut novel.
This ladies and gents here is a promising writer with bags full of talent. I almost want to have coffee with him and pick on his brains. Im Super Super Glad I ordered a signed copy (which is a treasure now). Looking forward to more things from you awais khan and thank you for helping me gain trust with our homie authors. Bravo!!!
April 9, 2021
So I have a lot to say about this book, firstly the blurb at the back doesn’t do it justice it’s way more complex than that. I usually don’t go for books on serious matters but this one was an exception and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The story follows Mona and Ali, she is an upper class woman who preferred her past when she was young and poor but happy as compared to the present where she has to put up a facade of “the perfect wife” to maintain her husband’s reputation. Whereas Ali is an emerging model, who had previously left the industry because he saw through “the elite Lahori society”. Mona is drawn to Ali because he sees her as Mona and not Mrs.Bilal, which is what her identity had been for the most part of her life. They fall in love knowing that it goes against the social construct, Ali is Mona’s escape from her loveless and abusive marriage and a way to relive her youth. And for Ali, Mona is a comfort against all the unfairness inflicted upon him; his brother’s operation, being forced to help a terrorist organisation etc.
💥(SPOILERS AHEAD)💥
Ali is a brave character, despite knowing the consequences he takes the bomb to the sea as a last stroke of rebellion knowing what the fate of his family would be. His end was tragic similar to that of Jay Gatsby, I would say this book is a clever mix of Mrs.Dalloway, Sweet Bird of Youth and The Great Gatsby. It had the best parts of all three, the reference to Dorian Gray (which I loved) may have been the foreshadowing of his tragic end. The book contains themes of terrorism, deteriorating youth, domestic and emotional abuse, escapism and lastly Love.
💥(SPOILERS AHEAD)💥
Ali is a brave character, despite knowing the consequences he takes the bomb to the sea as a last stroke of rebellion knowing what the fate of his family would be. His end was tragic similar to that of Jay Gatsby, I would say this book is a clever mix of Mrs.Dalloway, Sweet Bird of Youth and The Great Gatsby. It had the best parts of all three, the reference to Dorian Gray (which I loved) may have been the foreshadowing of his tragic end. The book contains themes of terrorism, deteriorating youth, domestic and emotional abuse, escapism and lastly Love.
January 27, 2020
In the company of Strangers by Awais Khan
Only handful of books starts off with something fresh or at least you as a reader find it I-Have-Never-Experienced-It-Before although it is something not to cherish about.
Awais Khan 's debut novel ,In the company of Strangers begins like that. This is Mona and Ali's story who are different like chalk and glue ! Mona is wife of Bilal ,a millionaire of Pakistan. In her early forties Mona has everything someone wishes for except Love. On the other hand Ali ,a young man in his twenties . He was once a famous model. It wasn't expected that their paths can be crossed but it happens at a party of Meera, a friend of Mona and also a famous model. When they meet, their lives start to change .
Through their lives Awais Khan has boldly unfolded the behind-the-scenes of a so-called happy life. How people can survive domestic violence and violence in a country daily has been showcased here. Author has woven even character with great effort. They are not flawless but they are believable.
In the company of Strangers by Awais Khan is a poignant ,thought-provoking and also a page turner fiction which talks about nothing but the reality .
Only one thing didn't work for me is the ending. I felt it ended in hurry.
As it is a debut I would definitely love to read books by this author in the future .
Only handful of books starts off with something fresh or at least you as a reader find it I-Have-Never-Experienced-It-Before although it is something not to cherish about.
Awais Khan 's debut novel ,In the company of Strangers begins like that. This is Mona and Ali's story who are different like chalk and glue ! Mona is wife of Bilal ,a millionaire of Pakistan. In her early forties Mona has everything someone wishes for except Love. On the other hand Ali ,a young man in his twenties . He was once a famous model. It wasn't expected that their paths can be crossed but it happens at a party of Meera, a friend of Mona and also a famous model. When they meet, their lives start to change .
Through their lives Awais Khan has boldly unfolded the behind-the-scenes of a so-called happy life. How people can survive domestic violence and violence in a country daily has been showcased here. Author has woven even character with great effort. They are not flawless but they are believable.
In the company of Strangers by Awais Khan is a poignant ,thought-provoking and also a page turner fiction which talks about nothing but the reality .
Only one thing didn't work for me is the ending. I felt it ended in hurry.
As it is a debut I would definitely love to read books by this author in the future .
February 25, 2019
Awais Khan's writing does not disappoint, making it so easy for the reader to breeze through the entire text (although one would end up wishing it wasn't over so soon!)
A much welcome narrative, constructed with moving sentiment & indelible detailing. Beautifully scripted as it is, Khan manages to reach the perfect balance between descriptive exposition & plot progress.
Here is another reason to proudly claim the Pakistani heritage- more power to the writer, for his writing has left wanting more!
A much welcome narrative, constructed with moving sentiment & indelible detailing. Beautifully scripted as it is, Khan manages to reach the perfect balance between descriptive exposition & plot progress.
Here is another reason to proudly claim the Pakistani heritage- more power to the writer, for his writing has left wanting more!
January 20, 2020
Intriguing glimpse into social disparities in Pakistan woven through a story of forbidden love and the insidious manipulations of terrorists. Khan paints a high society that sounds utterly depressing, with its bitching and domestic violence.
A tense ending that kept me reading til late.
A tense ending that kept me reading til late.
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