Name: Jawahir M's review of The Return of Faraz Ali by Aamina Ahmad
Item: The Return of Faraz Ali
Rating: 5
Author: Jawahir M

Aamina Ahmad

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 still train up their daughters as courtesans—kanjaris—the profession into which they themselves were coerced. 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 kanjari. 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 chasing down the walled city’s labyrinthine alleyways for 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?

A Novel

The Return of Faraz Ali

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

'A gripping read - everything beautifully evoked, from the alleys of the Old City to the atmosphere of corruption and secrets.' Kamila Shamsie A spellbinding debut set in Pakistan during the anarchic late '60s - a multi-layered tale of family, identity and the politics of power in a caste-ridden society. As riots erupt on the streets of Lahore, Inspector Faraz returns to his birthplace, the red-light district in the ancient walled city where women still pass on the profession of courtesan to their daughters. Plucked from it as a small boy by his influential father, Faraz has kept his roots well hidden. Now his father has sent him back: to cover up the murder of a young prostitute. It should be a simple task in the marginalised community, but Faraz finds himself unable to obey orders or to resist searching for the mother and sister he left behind. Chasing down the walled city's labyrinthine alleys for answers that risk shattering his carefully constructed existence, he is unaware that his sister faces having to return too, and to a life she thought she had escaped. As riveting as it is thought-provoking, as profoundly intimate as it is wide in scope, The Return of Faraz Ali poses a timeless question: whom do we choose to protect, and at what price?

Jawahir M

I would like to thank PRH and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed are my personal opinion.

The Return of Faraz Ali may present itself as a homicidal mystery but the story sprouts into this intergenerational saga that jumps into different time periods and political eras to weave an enriching and equally painful reflection of morality and humanity.

Ahmad’s writing is exquisitely nuanced, emotionally in depth and linguistically perfect to provide the perfect paradox between soft and harsh. The smart integration of the native language makes it even more of a realistic escapist read. 

The book reminds me similar sagas like Pachincko by Min Jin Lee (One of my favorites too) and the movie The Florida Project, both explore the idea "life happens for you, not you" and both have their own answers to that.

Do I recommend? Definitely

Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
The Return of Faraz Ali by Aamina Ahmad

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &The Return of Faraz Ali by Aamina Ahmad

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
The Return of Faraz Ali by Aamina Ahmad