“Wincingly funny. . . An ambitious book showing Asia through British and American eyes” from the bestselling author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Daily Mail).
In 1975, an English couple arrives in Karachi, Pakistan. Donald Manley, of Cameron Chemicals, has taken a job as the local sales manager. In Karachi, he hopes to follow in the footsteps of his beloved grandfather, who served there during the war. Donald’s wife, Christine, is banking on a change of scenery to help restart their marriage—and their ability to conceive. At the airport, their paths cross with American Duke Hanson, who is seeing his wife off. She’s returning to Kansas, while he’s staying on to oversee the development of a hotel project.
In the stifling heat and dusty, teeming streets, each one of these visitors will face their own crises: Donald, a devastating family secret; Christine, lead astray by her well-intentioned efforts to embrace the culture and start a family; Duke, both professional and personal temptations to his no-nonsense, uncorruptible image of himself. During a season of sweltering days and sultry nights, deals will be made, bonds will be broken, and the spirit of a city with one foot in the past and one in the future will take everyone by surprise.
“Original, perceptive and very entertaining.” —Alison Lurie, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Foreign Affairs
“Entertaining, subtle and intelligent.” —The Sunday Telegraph
“No neater entertainment has emerged from the debris of our past on the sub-continent.” —The Guardian
“A piece of technical wizardry.” —The Daily Telegraph