This Is Where the Serpent Lives

Mueenuddin’s lavish sophomore effort (after the 2009 collection In Other Rooms, Other Wonders) spans six decades and traces the lives of a wealthy Pakistani clan and those who work for them. Organized into four interconnected parts, it begins with the orphaned Bayasid, a tea boy in the Rawalpindi bazaar in 1955. Clever and loyal, Bayasid grows infatuated with his higher-class friend’s sister, Yasmin, until Yasmin’s housemaid banishes him from their home. Bayasid then becomes a smuggler, and years later, in an ironic twist, he violently defends Yasmin’s honor before ending up in Lahore as a colonel’s driver. The story then shifts to the colonel’s nephew Rustom, who returns from his American education in 1988 to take over his family’s farm, only to be outwitted by the rules and traditions of rural Pakistan. Clearly out of his league, he appeals for help to his cousin Hisham, who, in the novel’s third section, leaves with his brother Nessim to study at Dartmouth College, where they clash over the beautiful Shahnaz, who eventually marries Hisham and becomes the indulgent but astute memsahib of the estate, where the couple live a life of parties and outrageous privilege. The final heartbreaking section follows Saquib, the gardener’s son, whose ambitions drive the narrative toward a terrifying turn of events. The story threads cohere into a profound and revelatory portrait of Pakistan’s class divisions. Propulsive and peopled with unforgettable characters, this is a masterpiece. Agent: Bill Clegg, Clegg Agency. (Jan.)