"Burnt Shadows" - a postscript

Having now listened to the recording of the BBC World Service Book Club programme on which Shamsie appeared last month, I hasten to revise my critique of her book. I have to say that she explained the genesis of the novel convincingly, and in detail. While the character of Hiroko is a fictional construct indeed, it is rooted in historical fact - in terms of an array and amalgam of many Japanese women of her parents` generation married to Pakistani men. She was not writing about stereotypes or basing her narrative on received wisdom, but rather treating her characters as individuals who had somehow either defied the mores or deviated from the norms of their origins or upbringing or situations - because every society has them. The first part of the book, set in Nagasaki, was the one that had required most research. The trajectory of Hiroko and Sajjad, with its sequels into our post 9/11 world of today, thus does have an internal logic of its own. So I am glad to say that my earlier misgivings were misplaced - though judging by the reactions of other readers who participated in the programme I was not alone in having them - and that with such authorial clarifications I have a more rounded and empathetic view of the book.

RAMNIK SHAH
Copyright
Surrey England