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The story of a son’s journey across the middle east to meet his estranged father - from an acclaimed young journalist
As a child, all Aatish Taseer ever had of his father was his photograph in a browning silver frame. Raised by his Sikh mother in Delhi, his father, a Pakistani Muslim, remained a distant figure. It was a fractured upbringing which left Aatish with many questions about his own identity.
Stranger to History is the story of the journey Aatish made to try to understand what it means to be Muslim in the twenty-first century. Starting from Istanbul, Islam’s once greatest city, he travels to Mecca, its most holy, and then home through Iran and Pakistan. Ending in Lahore, at his estranged father’s home, on the night Benazir Bhutto was killed, it is also the story of Aatish’s own divided family over the past fifty years.
“A subtle and poignant work by a young writer to watch.”
V.s. Naipaul
See more reviews
“Taseer uses this intensely personal prism to spring a narrative that darts deftly between physical journey and childhood memoir. The paternal relationship he never had becomes the backbone of the book, which is all the better for it. Uncomfortable reading for Daddy, certainly, but gripping for the rest of us.”
literary Review
“Probing, exhilarating and shot through with pinpoint observations of people, places and situations.”
Kenny Hodgart
herald
“Stranger to History is remarkable. The souks, the landcapes and the people are described in simple, poetic language … Indispensable reading for anyone who wants a wider understanding of the Islamic world, of its history and its politics.”
Emmanuelle Smith
financial Times
“A memorable read that engages the mind as well as the heart.”
Tom Adair
scotsman
Aatish Taseer
Aatish Taseer was born in 1980 and educated at Amherst College. He worked as a reporter at Time magazine and has written frequently for Time, The Sunday Times, & Prospect Magazine. He speaks five languages and currently lives between London and New Delhi. This is his first book.