
The Centre
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $25.30
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Balvinder Sopal
A darkly comic, speculative debut following an adrift Pakistani translator in London who attends a mysterious language school which boasts complete fluency in just ten days, but at a secret, sinister cost.
Anisa Ellahi dreams of being a translator of “great works of literature,” but instead mostly spends her days subtitling Bollywood movies, living off her parents’ generous allowance, and discussing the “underside of life” with her best friend, Naima. Anisa’s mediocre white boyfriend, Adam, only adds to her growing sense of inadequacy with his savant-level aptitude for languages, successfully leveraging his expansive knowledge into an enviable career.
But when Adam learns to speak Urdu with native fluency practically overnight, Anisa forces him to reveal his secret. Adam begrudgingly tells Anisa about The Centre, an elite, invite-only program that guarantees near-instant fluency in any language. Skeptical but intrigued, Anisa enrolls—stripped of her belongings, contact with the outside world, and bodily autonomy—and emerges ten days later fluent in German. As Anisa enmeshes herself further within The Centre, seduced by all that it’s made possible, she soon realizes the true cost of its services.
By turns dark, funny, and surreal, and with twists thrilling and shocking, The Centre takes the listener on a journey through Karachi, London, and New Delhi, interrogating the sticky politics of language, translation, and appropriation with biting specificity, and ultimately asking: what is success really worth?
©2023 Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi (P)2023 ZandoListeners also enjoyed...




















People who viewed this also viewed...


















The personal insights were fascinating
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great story! Could be so much more!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
One of the very best
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Started out ok but not a fan by the end
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Impressive first book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not my cup of tea, but not horrible
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
tension
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
As for the narrator, Balvinder Sopal is among the elite Audible narrators. Truly a memorable listen, with nuances of characters conveyed so clearly as well as a clear sense of the author’s rich style. She made this a fantastic experience—best of the best!
Memorable story, outstanding narrator
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Weird, really weird
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very engaging story, but it stopped abruptly
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.