In the City by the Sea

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'Full of fun, longing and wit … a debut of spirit and imagination, loaded with intelligent charm' - Ali Smith

'A touching and engrossing story … an assured debut' - The Times

'A colourful and peripatetic view of politics in Pakistan … an interesting and promising novel' - Guardian

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BY THE ACCLAIMED WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

SHORTLISTED FOR THE JOHN LLEWELLYN RHYS PRIZE

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Hasan is eleven years old. He loves cricket, pomegranates, the night sky, his clever, vibrant artistic mother and his etymologically obsessed lawyer father, and he adores his next-door neighbour Zehra. One early summer morning, while lazing happily on the roof, Hasan watches a young boy flying a yellow kite fall to his death.

Soon after, Hasan's idyllic, sheltered family life is shattered when his beloved uncle Salman, a dissenting politician, is arrested and charged with treason... Set in a land ruled by an oppressive military regime, this eloquent, charming and quietly political novel vividly recreates the confusing world of a young boy on the edge of adulthood, and beautifully illustrates the transformative power of the imagination.