Nadeem Aslam: The Wasted VigilHis Maps for Lost Lovers was nominated for the 2004 Booker. His new novel is told through the lives of five people who come together in post 9/11 Afghanistan.
Marcus, an English doctor whose Afghani wife was murdered by the Taliban, opens his home to the others - Lara, from St. Petersburg, looking for evidence of her soldier brother who disappeared decades before in the Soviet invasion; David, an American and former spy; Casa, a young Afghani whose hatred of the West plunges him into the depths of zealotry; and James, the Special Forces soldier in whom David sees a dangerous revival of the unquestioning notions of right and wrong that he himself once held.
Aslam reveals the complex ties that bind these individuals. And through their stories he gives us a portrait of the 'continuation of wars' that shapes our world. 'Ambitious and luminous. The Wasted Vigil reminds us that fiction can do things that mere reportage can't. Aslam does not simply appropriate a few headlines for easy currency. He has immersed himself in a country and a culture.' Peter Parker, Sunday Times 380 pages |
