Season of the Rainbirds

PRAISE FOR NADEEM ASLAM AND SEASON OF THE RAINBIRDS

“A model of compact unadorned storytelling.”

— The Observer (London)

“A real treat.”

— The Daily Telegraph (London)

“Aslam quietly captures his country’s oppressive past and the ferocity of its religious schisms.”

— The Independent (London)

“Aslam lovingly explores the daily rhythms and beauties of the Islamic life of his youth, while providing insight into the turbulent modern history of his native land.”

— Publishers Weekly

“Extraordinary.… Aslam has created a novel which — grave yet exultant, brutal but compassionate — achieves its complex humanity, and its final affirmations of love and beauty, through a real reckoning with despair and heartbreak.”

— Pankaj Mishra, The New York Review of Books

“Richly atmospheric … engagingly introspective.… Aslam reveals — artfully and heartbreakingly — a psychology at war with itself.”

— The New York Times Book Review

“Stylistically dazzling, full of poetic, richly descriptive and tender passages.… His characters’ inner lives are explored in-depth, flaws and all.… A novel as affecting as it is provocative.”

— Los Angeles Times Book Review

“A novel of extraordinary quality. Islamists would be foolish to try and make political mischief out of it, while western readers would be foolish to ignore such a carefully crafted work.”

— The Economist

“Aslam’s prose soars, dazzling images abound.… Through the opulence of his writing and the darkness of his message Aslam quite brilliantly and shockingly seduces his reader.… A tale that is both Shakespearean and horrifically topical.… Beautiful and only too real, this story born of romance and pain matches its artistry with courage. It is an important novel and also a very fine one.”

— The Irish Times

“Remarkable.… Rich and beautifully wrought.”

— The Boston Globe

“Aslam is a rich and vividly metaphorical writer.… This is an exquisitely sad novel, and it is worth the effort of letting its spell take you over.”

— Newsday