Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve
Pakistan has not been renowned for its modern literature, which could bring its vibrant culture teeming with a kaleidoscope of stories to an appreciative international readership. For example, A Suitable Boy together with many others brought the colourful humour of Indian life, to millions. They were highly praised and often won accolades.
Danijal Mueenuddin’s first novel is an exciting arrival to the literary scene. It has a style of writing that has a quality that is deeply perceptive, humorous and which depicts the beauty of the Punjabi countryside with the enthusiasm of an artist.
It is the major characters, however that fashion this book in a manner that is unforgettable.
They form separate novellas but are linked by lives that cannot help but be interwoven. The novel begins with Yazid, an abandoned orphan who is adopted by a tea seller in the dusty bustle of Rawalpindi. He is clever and quick to learn and has a talent for organising.
Yazid spends some years living on the street but determined to add to his skills.
He does this when the wealthy Atars recruit him to be a valued houseboy and eventually a very competent driver. Hisham and Shahnaz live in luxury, have holidays abroad, and were educated in America and England. Although they are of a high caste, they are more democratic in their treatment of servants, as a result of this time spent away from Pakistan.
Yazid introduces Saqib, a young boy from the farmlands outside Lahore. He is schooled in many of the traits that embellish the service of a boy in the household, and delights in working such a charming environment. He too is encouraged to venture into new areas with his determination and hard work. He grew cucumbers under plastic tubes. This was highly successful for two seasons but disaster strikes. Saqib is tempted to become rich by fraudulently operating the business for the Atars, urged on by the conman Warraich.
Hisham’s second cousin, Rushtom, has roots solidly in the Punjabi land but has spent formative years in the USA. His return to his home country proves daunting. He did not belong in America but is adrift in Pakistan having been absent for so long.
Ultimately it is the manner in which the wealthy classes, gangsters and corrupt police form the fabric of this society that make this riveting reading. It is an epic tale where the graceful writing style emphasises the injustices of the system. The author is brilliantly able to highlight abuse in a subtle yet blatant way.
The saddest aspect is how the devotion and loyalty of the humble worker is often rewarded by cruelty and oppression. Saqib reflects as he contemplates his looming fate…. life is governed by chance rather than the intentional….as though a mad child is in charge.
Danyal Mueenuddin has won the Pulitzer Prize for his short stories. This is his first novel.
It will be welcomed enthusiastically, as it is by me, although his portrait of life there is at times extremely harsh and the episode of torture is unendurable.
There is an old Punjabi proverb. “Kill the Snake and not even break the stick”. In the Pakistan of this deeply moving novel, many of the powerful are practised in the skill of not ‘breaking the stick.’
Some readers may long to have more involvement by women but both Gazala, Siqab’s young wife, and Shahnaz quietly exert their own power. However, it must be conceded that society remains patriarchal despite the occasional female Prime Minister!
This is Where the Serpent Lives
[2026]
by Daniyal Mueenuddin
Bloomsbury
ISBN: 978 1 0372 0077 9
$32.99; 343pp