
The Return of Faraz Ali
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Homer Todiwala
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Nina Wadia
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By:
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Aamina Ahmad
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES AND NPR
WINNER OF THE 2023 L.A. TIMES BOOK PRIZE, ART SEIDENBAUM AWARD FOR FIRST FICTION
“Stunning not only on account of the author’s talent, of which there is clearly plenty, but also in its humanity.”—New York Times Book Review (cover)
Sent back to his birthplace—Lahore’s notorious red-light district—to hush up the murder of a girl, a man finds himself in an unexpected reckoning with his past.
Not since childhood has Faraz returned to the Mohalla, in Lahore’s walled inner city, where women continue to pass down the art of courtesan from mother to daughter. But he still remembers the day he was abducted from the home he shared with his mother and sister there, at the direction of his powerful father, who wanted to give him a chance at a respectable life. Now Wajid, once more dictating his fate from afar, has sent Faraz back to Lahore, installing him as head of the Mohalla police station and charging him with a mission: to cover up the violent death of a young girl.
It should be a simple assignment to carry out in a marginalized community, but for the first time in his career, Faraz finds himself unable to follow orders. As the city assails him with a jumble of memories, he cannot stop asking questions or winding through the walled city’s labyrinthine alleyways chasing the secrets—his family’s and his own—that risk shattering his precariously constructed existence.
Profoundly intimate and propulsive, The Return of Faraz Ali is a spellbindingly assured first novel that poses a timeless question: Whom do we choose to protect, and at what price?
©2022 Aamina Ahmad (P)2022 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
“Stunning not only on account of the author’s talent, of which there is clearly plenty, but also in its humanity. … The fullness of the characters and their intersecting lives make this far more than a murder mystery… Ahmad’s compassion, her deep care for the psychological and emotional nuances of her characters, never wavers, no matter how monstrous or self-interested or defeated they become. … It extends through generations and transformations of place, all the way to a devastating final chapter, fully human, fully engaged with what makes us human.”—New York Times Book Review
“Extraordinarily accomplished. . . . This is a great novel, rich in setting, shocking in its depiction of brute, inexorable power, but unexpectedly sweet in conclusion.”—The Washington Post
“It starts out as a crime novel. . . . . and then evolves into so much more. . . . come for the evocative writing, the subtle characters, and plot–some of which veered in completely unexpected territory.”—NPR
The author Amina Ahmad has done an excellent job.
Beautiful story
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Powerful
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A bit long
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Heartbreaking & complex, but faulty narration
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accents weren't a bother
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The story
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Awful narration
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Heartbreakingly Beautiful
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Narration
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My only drawback is that as someone unaccustomed to these names and customs I had a hard time in audio format of recognizing and re-recognizing all the various names and places. In addition, a little knowledge of the history of Pakistan and Bangladesh history is helpful. At one point I looked it up on Google.
Great book.
Wonderful! But probably easier as a book
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