
Under the Tamarind Tree
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
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $18.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Sneha Mathan
-
By:
-
Nigar Alam
About this listen
A compellingly heartbreaking debut novel about the echoes of Partition and four friends whose dark secrets lead to a life-changing night that comes back to haunt them decades later.
One night. Four friends. Countless secrets.
1964. Karachi, Pakistan. Rozeena is running out of time. She'll lose her home—her parents' safe haven since fleeing India and the terrors of Partition—if her medical career doesn't take off soon. But success may come with an unexpected price. Meanwhile the interwoven lives of her childhood best friends—Haaris, Aalya, and Zohair—seem to be unraveling with each passing day. The once small and inconsequential differences between their families' social standing now threaten to divide them. Then one fateful night someone ends up dead and the life they once took for granted shatters.
2019. Rozeena receives a call from a voice she never thought she’d hear again. What begins as an ask to look after a friend’s teenaged granddaughter struggling with her own demons grows into an unconventional friendship—one that unearths buried secrets and just might ruin everything Rozeena has worked so hard to protect.
Captivating and atmospheric, Under the Tamarind Tree shows us the high-stakes ripple effects of generational trauma, and the lengths people will go to protect the ones they love.
©2023 Nigar Alam (P)2023 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Scenes of the Crime
- A Novel
- By: Jilly Gagnon
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It should have been the perfect spring break. Five girlfriends. A remote winery on the Oregon coast. An infinite supply of delicious wine at their manicured fingertips. But then their center—beautiful, magnetic Vanessa Morales—vanished without a trace. Emily Fischer was perhaps the last person to see her alive. But now, years later, Emily spots Vanessa’s doppelganger at a local café. At the end of her rope working a lucrative yet mind-numbing gig on a network sitcom, Emily is inspired to finally tell the story that’s been percolating inside her for so long.
-
-
Couldn't wait to be finished with it...
- By Paul Becker on 01-24-24
By: Jilly Gagnon
-
Love of My Lives
- By: Yamile Saied Mendez
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Madi Ramírez has it all—a thriving career she loves, a successful boyfriend, and a wedding to plan—when he finally proposes. So why does she feel like there is something missing? Jayden even has the right initials—the JR that appeared to Madi years ago, in a dream visitation from her beloved, wise abuela. Madi’s friends think her expectations are too high—but she can’t help wishing for that dreamy feeling in real-life. Wishing that Jayden would show her a little more affection. That she could really believe they were meant to be.
-
-
A Bit Lackluster
- By everbookish on 11-20-23
-
Mastering the Art of French Murder
- An American in Paris Mystery, Book 1
- By: Colleen Cambridge
- Narrated by: Polly Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Paris rediscovers its joie de vivre, Tabitha Knight, recently arrived from Detroit for an extended stay with her French grandfather, is on her own journey of discovery. Thanks to her neighbor and friend Julia Child, another ex-pat who's fallen head over heels for Paris, Tabitha is learning how to cook for her Grandpere and Oncle Rafe and Tabitha's sojourn is proving thoroughly delightful. That is, until the cold December day they return to Julia's building and learn that a body has been found in the cellar.
-
-
Fun story; distracting (irritating) narrator
- By K. Marmaras on 10-24-23
-
Forty Words for Love
- By: Aisha Saeed
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam, Shiromi Arserio
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moonlight Bay is a magical place—or it was once. After a tragic death mars the town, the pink and lavender waters in the bay turn gray, and the forest that was a refuge for newcomers becomes a scourge to the townspeople. Almost overnight, the entire town seems devoid of life and energy. The tourists have stopped coming. And the people in the town are struggling.
By: Aisha Saeed
-
The Museum of Failures
- By: Thrity Umrigar
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Remy Wadia left India for the United States long ago, carrying his resentment of his mother with him. He has now returned to Bombay to adopt a baby from a young pregnant girl—and to see his elderly mother for the first time in several years. Discovering that his mother is in the hospital, has stopped talking, and seems to have given up on life, he is struck with guilt for not realizing just how sick she has become.
-
-
I loved this story...until I didn't...
- By R Cravey on 11-24-23
By: Thrity Umrigar
-
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
- A Novel
- By: James McBride
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.
-
-
Multiple Stories Obfuscate Narrative
- By Stephnsea on 08-12-23
By: James McBride
-
Scenes of the Crime
- A Novel
- By: Jilly Gagnon
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It should have been the perfect spring break. Five girlfriends. A remote winery on the Oregon coast. An infinite supply of delicious wine at their manicured fingertips. But then their center—beautiful, magnetic Vanessa Morales—vanished without a trace. Emily Fischer was perhaps the last person to see her alive. But now, years later, Emily spots Vanessa’s doppelganger at a local café. At the end of her rope working a lucrative yet mind-numbing gig on a network sitcom, Emily is inspired to finally tell the story that’s been percolating inside her for so long.
-
-
Couldn't wait to be finished with it...
- By Paul Becker on 01-24-24
By: Jilly Gagnon
-
Love of My Lives
- By: Yamile Saied Mendez
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Madi Ramírez has it all—a thriving career she loves, a successful boyfriend, and a wedding to plan—when he finally proposes. So why does she feel like there is something missing? Jayden even has the right initials—the JR that appeared to Madi years ago, in a dream visitation from her beloved, wise abuela. Madi’s friends think her expectations are too high—but she can’t help wishing for that dreamy feeling in real-life. Wishing that Jayden would show her a little more affection. That she could really believe they were meant to be.
-
-
A Bit Lackluster
- By everbookish on 11-20-23
-
Mastering the Art of French Murder
- An American in Paris Mystery, Book 1
- By: Colleen Cambridge
- Narrated by: Polly Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Paris rediscovers its joie de vivre, Tabitha Knight, recently arrived from Detroit for an extended stay with her French grandfather, is on her own journey of discovery. Thanks to her neighbor and friend Julia Child, another ex-pat who's fallen head over heels for Paris, Tabitha is learning how to cook for her Grandpere and Oncle Rafe and Tabitha's sojourn is proving thoroughly delightful. That is, until the cold December day they return to Julia's building and learn that a body has been found in the cellar.
-
-
Fun story; distracting (irritating) narrator
- By K. Marmaras on 10-24-23
-
Forty Words for Love
- By: Aisha Saeed
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam, Shiromi Arserio
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moonlight Bay is a magical place—or it was once. After a tragic death mars the town, the pink and lavender waters in the bay turn gray, and the forest that was a refuge for newcomers becomes a scourge to the townspeople. Almost overnight, the entire town seems devoid of life and energy. The tourists have stopped coming. And the people in the town are struggling.
By: Aisha Saeed
-
The Museum of Failures
- By: Thrity Umrigar
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Remy Wadia left India for the United States long ago, carrying his resentment of his mother with him. He has now returned to Bombay to adopt a baby from a young pregnant girl—and to see his elderly mother for the first time in several years. Discovering that his mother is in the hospital, has stopped talking, and seems to have given up on life, he is struck with guilt for not realizing just how sick she has become.
-
-
I loved this story...until I didn't...
- By R Cravey on 11-24-23
By: Thrity Umrigar
-
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
- A Novel
- By: James McBride
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.
-
-
Multiple Stories Obfuscate Narrative
- By Stephnsea on 08-12-23
By: James McBride
-
Famous for a Living
- A Novel
- By: Melissa Ferguson
- Narrated by: Talon David
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When her business partner is accused of serious financial crimes, superstar influencer Cat Cranwell—an engineered marvel of beauty, energy, and fun—falls from her penthouse perch. Desperate to get away from the online trolls and paparazzi documenting her disgrace, Cat accepts her uncle’s offer to work with him in Kannery National Park, Montana. About as far as possible from life as she’s known it.
-
-
Short & Sweet
- By H. Divis on 07-28-23
By: Melissa Ferguson
-
North Woods
- A Novel
- By: Daniel Mason
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall, Michael Crouch, Jason Culp, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When two young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become the home of an extraordinary succession of human and nonhuman characters alike. An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to growing apples. A pair of spinster twins navigate war and famine, envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths an ancient mass grave—only to discover that the earth refuse to give up their secrets.
-
-
An American Masterpiece
- By Psumissyh on 09-21-23
By: Daniel Mason
-
The Complete Jaipur Trilogy
- The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, and The Perfumist of Paris
- By: Alka Joshi
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan, Ariyan Kassam, Deepa Samuel
- Length: 33 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vivid and compelling, The Henna Artist opens a door into a world that is at once lush and fascinating, stark and cruel. Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist—and confidante—to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own. Years later, she is confronted by her husband who has tracked her down.
-
-
An fabulously expanding adventure !
- By Miki Lee on 11-24-23
By: Alka Joshi
-
Independence
- A Novel
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set during the partition of British India in 1947, a time when neighbor was pitted against neighbor and families were torn apart, award-winning author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s novel brings to life the sweeping story of three sisters caught up in events beyond their control, their unbreakable bond, and their incredible struggle against powerful odds.
-
-
A very interesting story, good but a tad flat
- By Naturegirl09 on 06-25-23
-
The Story Hour
- By: Thrity Umrigar
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An experienced psychologist, Maggie carefully maintains emotional distance from her patients. But when she meets a young Indian woman who tried to kill herself, her professional detachment disintegrates. Cut off from her family in India, Lakshmi is desperately lonely and trapped in a loveless marriage. Moved by her plight, Maggie treats Lakshmi in her home office for free, quickly realizing that the despondent woman doesn't need a shrink; she needs a friend.
-
-
A stellar performance almost carried the book...
- By Daryl on 03-04-15
By: Thrity Umrigar
-
The Widows of Malabar Hill
- By: Sujata Massey
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bombay, 1921: Perveen Mistry, the daughter of a respected Zoroastrian family, has just joined her father's law firm, becoming one of the first female lawyers in India. Armed with a law degree from Oxford, Perveen also has a tragic personal history that makes her especially devoted to championing and protecting women's legal rights. Mistry Law has been appointed to execute the will of Mr. Omar Farid, a wealthy Muslim mill owner who has left three widows behind. But as Perveen is going through the paperwork, she notices something strange.
-
-
I wish this had a different reader
- By consuelo on 03-25-18
By: Sujata Massey
-
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride
- A Novel
- By: Roshani Chokshi
- Narrated by: Steve West, Sura Siu
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the tradition of sumptuous gothic novels like Starling House and The Bloody Chamber comes a dark fairy tale-infused story about a cursed friendship and a marriage steeped in secrets—the breathtaking adult debut from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi.
-
-
Disappointing
- By A. S. on 03-02-23
By: Roshani Chokshi
-
What Could Be Saved
- A Novel
- By: Liese O'Halloran Schwarz
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Washington, DC, 2019: Laura Preston is a reclusive artist at odds with her older sister Beatrice as their elegant, formidable mother slowly slides into dementia. When a stranger contacts Laura claiming to be her brother who disappeared forty years earlier when the family lived in Bangkok, Laura ignores Bea’s warnings of a scam and flies to Thailand to see if it can be true. But meeting him in person leads to more questions than answers.
-
-
Good writing, but mawkish in the end
- By AB on 02-20-21
-
Never Name the Dead
- By: D.M. Rowell
- Narrated by: Katie Anvil Rich
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No one called her Mud in Silicon Valley. There, she was Mae, a high-powered professional who had left her Kiowa roots behind a decade ago. But a cryptic voice message from her grandfather, James Sawpole, telling her to come home sounds so wrong that she catches the next plane to Oklahoma, where she finds a tribe in disarray. When Mud and her cousin Denny discover her grandfather missing, accused of stealing the valuable Jefferson Peace medal from the tribe museum—and stumble across a body in his work room—Mud has no choice but to search for answers.
-
-
Horrible narrator
- By jacer on 11-23-24
By: D.M. Rowell
-
The Night Tiger
- A Novel
- By: Yangsze Choo
- Narrated by: Yangsze Choo
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Quick-witted, ambitious Ji Lin is stuck as an apprentice dressmaker, moonlighting as a dance hall girl to help pay off her mother’s Mahjong debts. But when one of her dance partners accidentally leaves behind a gruesome souvenir, Ji Lin may finally get the adventure she has been longing for. Eleven-year-old houseboy Ren is also on a mission, racing to fulfill his former master’s dying wish: that Ren find the man’s finger, lost years ago in an accident, and bury it with his body. Ren has 49 days to do so, or his master’s soul will wander the earth forever.
-
-
very satisfying
- By Ian Macdonald on 03-19-19
By: Yangsze Choo
-
A Brighter Flame
- A Novel
- By: Christine Nolfi
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vale Lightner’s dreams turn to ash when the Pittsburgh bar she owns goes up in flames. Just like the past she escaped, very little seems salvageable. Facing unavoidable change, Vale returns to her hometown of Philadelphia to stay with her grandmother. She knows that returning also means facing everything she left behind: a mother and stepfather who shunted her into the background from the day they married, and her charmed and favored half sister, Blythe, who has abandoned a perfect marriage and is now at a crossroads of her own.
-
-
Sweet story
- By Tlobri on 03-03-23
By: Christine Nolfi
-
Her Sister's Death
- By: K. L. Murphy
- Narrated by: Rachel Fulginiti, Kate Rudd, Curt Bonnem
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When her sister is found dead in a Baltimore hotel room, reporter Val Ritter’s world is turned upside down. An empty pill bottle at the scene leads the police to believe the cause of death is suicide. With little more than her own conviction, Val teams up with Terry Martin, a retired detective who has his own personal interest in the case, to prove that something more sinister is possible.
-
-
Excellent Dual Storyline!!
- By Amazon Customer on 12-31-22
By: K. L. Murphy
Critic reviews
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction 2023 First Novel Prize
“[A] sensitive tale of reconstructed lives and reexamined choices….Alam’s vivid descriptions of Karachi, nuanced characters, and deft ability to delve into big ideas while keeping the story moving make this an emotionally engaging read.”—Booklist
“Alam’s debut spans decades and generations in an epic mystery emanating out of one fateful night in Karachi in 1964, following the reverberations altering so many lives. Alam handles the sprawling, ambitious material with enviable dexterity, and brings out a story that’s full of texture and humanity.” —Crime Reads
“You can practically smell the courtyard’s sweet bougainvillea and feel the Arabian Sea’s misty breeze…Under the Tamarind Tree is historical fiction at its best, a story rich in fascinating historical details and deeply moving as well—a tale of friendship, family, and the power that new, unexpected relationships can have, even late in life, to heal old wounds.” —Adele Myers, author of The Tobacco Wives
What listeners say about Under the Tamarind Tree
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Teeg
- 11-30-24
an ambitious first novel
This is a nuanced story about the dual lives women lead. About how women, more than men, have to make continual life-altering sacrifices in order to survive, often including sacrifices regarding their bodies. About how the rules throughout women's lives hold constraints that most men will never experience. I found the chapter-by-chapter changes in decades at times contrived and unnecessarily obtuse. The story became more engaging approximately 2/3 into the novel. The main character Rozeena is a compelling tribute to women's strength and endurance. She makes the book a worthwhile experience. The narrator is fantastic.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- D. Dolan
- 10-03-23
Fantastic Story
I enjoyed this often heartbreaking story. It was extremely well written.
However, the narrator was what made this story, the lives of these characters, come to life. Several times I went back to check and make sure it was only one person doing the narration, she was that good.
When you have a book that is this wonderful and pair it with a narrator with this much talent, you are in for a beautiful experience.
All the stars!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tuna’s Wife
- 08-28-24
interesting historical fiction topic
this was an interesting story about the partition of India and its lifetime effects on a Muslim woman, her family, and friends. it prompted my curiosity and I did some additional reading on the partition of India.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MOL
- 10-16-24
Lots of twists and turns.
I’m a fan of historical fiction. Maybe it’s because it inspires me to read up on the place/town/country and its history. I do this so I can understand the context on which a story sits. The author described and wove the history very skillfully into her narrative. She showed the unspoken under reported consequences of upheavals, the price people pay for their freedoms and their identities. What I have trouble wrapping my mind around are the inane customs and petty preening and hubris that pervades a society’s upper class and the monied. The author has depicted the “high society” in that world to be composed of a feral petty lot who badly need to find meaningful reasons to get up in the morning than to spew malice and venom.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Asma
- 09-09-23
Enjoyed it.
Loved the book. The characters are well developed and I was not expecting the twist at the end. The narrator did a fantastic job.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carla Stearman
- 10-01-24
The narrator was amazing!
Tragic story told with calm and acceptance. Lovely story! The narrator was amazing! Would recommend.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- redfox
- 09-25-24
Wonderful story & narration!
A story that follows a group of friends through some of the cataclysmic events of their lives and their aftermath. It gets into what we owe our families and ourselves, how family secrets can protect or distort, how to handle grief and beginning again. Plus, personal stories of Partition, which is a slice of history I’d like to understand better. Lots of good stuff, plus the complexities of Real People!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!