‘A stunning debut novel – a noir-inspired thriller that weaves in politics, family ties, corruption, and murder,
while also being sharp about different kinds of power, particularly as it relates to women” Kamila Shamsie

‘A rich and deeply moving novel about confronting histories both personal and political . . . Marvellous’ Yaa Gyasi

Pakistan, 1968. As riots erupt in the streets of Lahore, Inspector Faraz Ali returns to his birthplace, the red-light district in the walled inner city. Wrested from it as a child by his powerful father to be raised by a respectable family, Faraz has hidden his roots ever since. Now his father has sent him back: to cover up the murder of a young courtesan.

It should be a simple task, but for once Faraz finds himself unable to obey orders – nor can he resist searching for the mother and sister he left behind. Chasing after answers that risk shattering his precariously constructed existence, Faraz is unaware that his sister also faces a return to the old city and to the life she thought she had escaped.