A Splintering
Dur e Aziz Amna
An unforgettable story of motherhood, obsession and ambition
‘Smart and gripping – I read it in one sitting. Tara is a glorious creation, crackling with life and aspiration and sensuality’ Kamila Shamsie, author of Home Fire
‘A lacerating novel by a writer of great insight and deep compassion’ Mohsin Hamid, author of The Last White Man
In a village in rural Pakistan, Tara is waiting and watching. The smell of dung and dust hangs over her world. She is desperate to leave the petty life of the village and escape the iron grip of her violent, unpredictable brother. Marrying a middle-class accountant allows her to escape to the capital, but she soon finds that life as a respectable housewife is not sufficient either. She wants what the rich mothers at her children’s school have. She wants what their husbands have. But can she truly shake her past? And what of the menacing spectre of her brother, a reminder of the threads that tie her to the life she left behind?
Set against a hypnotic, oppressive backdrop of political violence and natural disaster, A Splintering traces the class struggle of a woman stuck between province and metropolis, between motherhood and ambition. Disquieting and utterly gripping, it is an extraordinary achievement by Dur e Aziz Amna, an exploration of a complex and unforgettable character who will risk everything to carve out a life of her own.
Reviews
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'Amna’s prose... captures the fetid backwaters of poverty that Tara loathes and the glittering, corrupting city life she wants to own... alive with psychological intricacy and beauty... a superb second novel' Mirzha Aheed, Guardian
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'Amna is a witty and spiky writer and A Splintering is a blistering portrayal of a woman unwilling to accept life’s unfairness. Despite Tara’s greed and cruelty, her disdain for the restraints of her society is mesmerising. As her schemes to escape get wilder, you urge her on' Emily Lawford, Sunday Times
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'A riveting, unsparing story of a woman rising above an oppressive system… The narrative unfurls against the backdrop of Pakistan’s tumultuous political climate and lays bare a biting social critique on pervasive disparities… Although many of Tara’s decisions come across as callous, the emphatic character building allows readers to make sense of them as a reaction to the barrage of injustices embedded in her social fabric… This is a textured, unflinching portrayal of a woman daring to live on her own terms in a society rigged against her' Rabeea Saleem, Irish Times
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'A razor-sharp, emotionally charged novel about one woman’s fight to escape the confines of village life in Pakistan and claim something more... Set against political unrest and natural disaster, Dur e Aziz Amna’s novel is a fierce, unflinching portrait of class, ambition, and a woman pushed to the edge' Samantha de Haas, Service95
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'Tara is ambitious, ruthless and complex: her voice makes this novel crackle' Grazia
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'A bleak and gritty shock of a novel, gripping to the end' Anthony Cummins, Daily Mail
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'A riveting read that boldly calls out patriarchy in Pakistan and beyond' Mohammed Hanif, author of Red Birds
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‘Smart and gripping – I read it in one sitting. Tara is a glorious creation, crackling with life and aspiration and sensuality’ Kamila Shamsie, author of Best of Friends
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'A lacerating novel by a writer of great insight and deep compassion' Mohsin Hamid, author of The Last White Man
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'I am constantly amazed by how relentless this is. When you think it's gone too far it goes further. And I love it for that' Deepti Kapoor, author of Age of Vice
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'An intoxicating, high-voltage mix of female rage, economic ambition, erotic awakening, and biting disdain aimed at the expectations faced by women in contemporary Pakistani society, Tara's voice will sear itself in your consciousness like the scowl of a convict facing the firing squad. Never have my sympathies been so roused, tested, and provoked by a character both heroic and tragic, wily and cornered, raw and charred... a magnificent sophomore novel, replete with Amna's trademark lyricism and sparkling wit' Aube Rey Lescure, author of River East, River West
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'In Tara, Amna has given us a fully-realised, rounded protagonist. She’s someone who sees all society’s faults, but also someone who rarely criticises the systems that have been put in place to maintain the status quo. Instead, she seeks to overcome any obstacle put in her way by dint of her indefatigable spirit' Crack magazine
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'A Splintering is the dizzying kind of novel that puts every part of your brain in competition with the rest. It’s a page-turner, it’s a vivid chronicle of family life, it’s an intimate exploration of selfhood. And more than anything it’s an examination of the structures society builds up around us. In harrowing detail, Amna shows us how those forces - tradition, patriarchy, capitalism - deform and fracture our inner lives so profoundly that imagination becomes as much a prison as it is a key. I’m in awe of this book' Chris Knapp, author of States of Emergency
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'A gripping, troubling, masterful story. I could not put it down' Ayşegül Savaş, author of The Anthropologists
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'A rare novel that dares to ask, what if women wanted more? ... a sharp, unsentimental take on ambition, class and desire... encountering a character who will do everything in their power to change the trajectory of their life is intoxicating and refreshing. It makes it difficult to put the book down or to interrupt the flow of Tara’s lunging towards a greater life... Amna’s work stands out in the South Asian literary landscape' Dawn
