The Wish Maker

A major new international voice debuts with a sweeping story of love, friendship, and family ties that brings to life the turbulent world of modern Pakistan. The unforgettable story of a fatherless boy growing up in a household of outspoken women, "The Wish Maker" is also a tale of sacrifice, betrayal, and indestructible friendship. Zaki Shirazi and his female cousin Samar Api were raised to consider themselves "part of the same litter." Together they watched American television and memorized dialogue from Bollywood movies, attended dangerous protests, and formed secret friendships. In a household run by Zaki's crusading political journalist mother and iron-willed grandmother, it was impossible to imagine a future that could hold anything different for either of them. But adolescence approaches and the cousins' fates diverge. Samar's unconventional behavior-in which Zaki has played the role of devoted helper-brings severe consequences for her, while Zaki is sent out to discover the world for himself. It is only after years of separation from Samar that he is forced to confront the true nature of happiness, selfhood, and commitment to those he loves most. Chronicling world-changing events that have never been so intimately observed in fiction and brimming with unmistakable warmth and humor, "The Wish Maker" is the powerful account of a family and an era, a story that shows how, even in the most rapidly shifting circumstances, there are bonds that survive the tugs of convention, time, and history.

Review :
""The Wish Maker," in Ali Sethi's mature and sure-handed prose, is an engaging family saga, an absorbing coming-of-age story, and an illuminating look at one of the world's most turbulent regions. Ali Sethi steadfastly resists the usual clich's about both Islam and his native country. Instead, he offers a nuanced, often humorous, and always novel look at life in modern day Pakistan." - Khaled Hosseini, author of "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns" ""The Wish Maker" is a confident and personal debut. Ali Sethi's is a fresh voice from a new generation of Pakistani novelists." -Mohsin Hamid, author of "Moth Smoke" and "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" "Reaching from a Massachusetts college to a restless Pakistan, "The Wish Maker" is a brilliant example of the new global novel and a sad but sometimes funny song about the way we live now." -Gary Shteyngart, author of "The Russian Debutante's Handbook" and "Absurdistan" "Ali Sethi's prose dances.t a"The Wish Maker," in Ali Sethias mature and sure-handed prose, is an engaging family saga, an absorbing coming-of-age story, and an illuminating look at one of the worldas most turbulent regions. Ali Sethi steadfastly resists the usual clichA(c)s about both Islam and his native country. Instead, he offers a nuanced, often humorous, and always novel look at life in modern day Pakistan.a a Khaled Hosseini, author of "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns"