A review by sumsayyah
The Return of Faraz Ali by Aamina Ahmad

5.0

An emotional powerhouse of a book. It’s 1968 and Faraz Ali, a young police officer, returns to his birthplace in the Mohalla, Lahore’s red-light district, to investigate the murder of a young girl - but this is so much more than a crime mystery. It’s a sweeping story that spans decades, from the birth of Pakistan during World War II to Bangladeshi Independence, recounting how gender, class, caste, and revolution intersperse with the lives of both corrupt military generals and the dancers and their daughters living in the Mohalla. Each character feels deeply human - written with intense vulnerability and intimacy. Aamina Ahmed somehow manages to immerse you in the soil of the subcontinent itself - it is richly detailed and evocations of fear, grief, power, and belonging are masterfully executed. Ahmed especially shines in her capture of her female characters and her compassionate treatment of them as they navigate the few, difficult choices available to them. The novel’s scope is large and at times goes a little too long and winding (if you’re not familiar with South Asian history or overwhelmed by changes in POVs/time periods, it may take a while to get the hang of it) - but it is tied up perfectly at the end, a masterful unraveling of the complex characters, events, and perpetual desperation for personhood that define Pakistani history.