Product Description

A beautiful novel detailing the life and loves of a Pakistani girl living in the U.S.

Aliya may not have inherited her family's patrician looks, but she is as much a prey to the legends of her family that stretch back to the days of Timur Lang. Aristocratic and eccentric-the clan has plenty of stories to tell, and secrets to hide.

Like salt and saffron, which both flavor food but in slightly different ways, it is the small, subtle differences that cause the most trouble in Aliya's family. The family problems and scandals caused by these minute differences echo the history of the sub-continent and the story of Partition.

A superb storyteller, Kamila Shamsie writes with warmth and gusto. Through the many anecdotes about Pakistani family life, she hints at the larger tale of a divided nation. Spanning the subcontinent from the Muslim invasions to the Partition, this is a magical novel about the shapes stories can take- turning into myths, appearing in history books and entering into our lives.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1115988 in Books
• Published on: 2002-05-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Clever, witty and inventive, this engaging novel tackles the challenges of reconciling one culture's progressive values with another's allegiance to family and tradition. Shamsie, well-known in her native Pakistan for a prize-winning first novel, In the City by the Sea, writes about Anglo-Indian culture clash with a subtlety and wit that recall Rushdie. Aliya, just graduated from an American college, heads home for the summer to her family in Pakistan for another kind of education, this one focused on the dynamics of class and love and directed by her well-heeled but intolerant relatives. While lively, likable characters with a shared passion for relaying stories from the family's colorful past, Aliya's kin annoy her with their disdain for those who do not share their distinguished lineage. The storied family curse of "not-quite-twins," relatives close in age who share a cosmic connection and disgrace the family's name, becomes more threat than myth when an aunt labels Aliya and her beloved cousin, Mariam Apa, as "not-quites." Indeed, Aliya has been bitterly estranged from a number of her relatives, especially her grandmother Dadi, since their scornful rejection of Mariam, a near-mute who eloped with the family cook. When Aliya finds herself drawn to a Westernized Pakistani whose parents hail from the slums of Karachi, her disillusionment with her family's snobbery and her identification with the unfortunate Mariam intensifies. However, as Aliya leans more about her family's tangled history, especially her grandmother's life and the three men at the center of it brothers divided by India and Pakistan's separation she learns that she, too, has been quick to judge. Her family turns out to be more passionate and complex than Aliya assumes, just as this winning novel resonates more deeply than its lighthearted tone would suggest. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Shamsie's second novel (following In the City by the Sea) centers on a Pakistani woman caught between the 21st century and her family's feudal past, between salt (ordinary people) and saffron (the elite). Saffron is a luxury, but salt is a necessity, Aliya learns in this charming, witty exploration of class values. In the Dard-e-Dil family, descended from land-rich nawabs, there's a history of "not-quites" (twins, triplets, cousins) who are fated to bring dishonor upon their name. Aliya's "not-quite" is cousin Mariam Apa, who elopes with the cook. Will Aliya repeat history by falling for Khaleel, from Karachi's other side of the tracks? Mysterious Mariam Apa preoccupies Aliya's brooding summer as she tries to make sense of family lore. But center stage is held by her beguiling grandmother, Dadi, beloved by "not-quite" triplet brothers, whose past serves up the climax of this erudite, disarming novel. Shamsie is from a literary/artistic family that includes great-aunt Attia Hosain and mother Muneeza Shamsie (both writers) and filmmaker cousin Waris Hosain. Recommended for all collections.DJo Manning, Barry Univ., Miami Shores, FL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
On her way from college in Boston to London, Aliya is asked by her handsome seatmate how much of the family stories she has been telling him are true. "A good storyteller never tells," she replies, and we are as smitten as he. Aliya's tart and supple tale concerns her Pakistani family history, a tangle of grandparents and ancestors and cousins and servants whose lives are so braided with her own that she can recognize a relative by the shape of a clavicle. These are the kind of family reminiscences that cousins whisper to each other and giggle, but they are full of class and caste distinctions drawn from Pakistani, Muslim, British, and American sources. Key to the unwinding is the story of the triplets born before and after midnight of her grandparents' generation, three men who loved not wisely but too well, and Aliya's "not-quite twin" Mariam, the aunt who spoke only to the cook and ate only what he put before her. The utterly sensuous descriptions of food and tea are alone worth the price of admission. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Not as good as her "Broken Verses"
This is a pleasant enough book with some wonderful vignettes, and yes, it does make you long for the nearest subcontinental restaurant. I just found the focus on yet another wildly dysfunctional family, even one with royal pretensions, a bit underwhelming. She also leaves many central questions purposefully unresolved, and her musings on possible motivations for some characters' highly unusual behavior were unconvincing.

Instead, or at least first, I recommend Shamsie's later "Broken Verses," which deals with modernity, Pakistani politics, poetry and the role of women PLUS the obligatory dysfunctional family. It's both more intellectually complex and a more gripping read.

A feast
I didn't know what to expect from this book. The book's online description seemed a little confusing, but also intriguing--ancient family secrets, exotic lineages, a hint of magic realism--and I was taken by the beautiful cover image, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm glad I did.

"Salt and Saffron" is populated by a fascinating cast of characters, from the main character, Aliya's, ancestors to her extended present-day family, and the story--part mythology and fable, part contemporary romance, part serious meditation on politics and social classes in Pakistan--is utterly enjoyable. These are all held together by lyrical, energetic, and very smart writing.

Having read the works of Salman Rushdie, Mohsin Hamid, Amitav Ghosh, Amy Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston, Garcia Marquez, and others who mix myth and fantasy with reality, past with present, I can honestly say that Ms. Shamsie is a writer to keep an eye on. I'll be eagerly looking forward to future books.

The food IS the story, the story IS the food
I am surprised to read some of these reviews. This is a skillfully written book that sparkles with wit, culture, and intrigue. There ARE majestic descriptions of food within, as well as lengthy passages relating family history, but far from being distractions from the main story, they are alternate ways of telling the main story. Kamila Shamsie uses all the tools at her disposal to help the reader connect with her tale of awakening to, confronting, and digesting issues of class and caste in life.

I found the novel enjoyable from beginning to end, and more than that - substantial. In the sense that a wonderful, savory, tantalizing meal is also substantial - it fills the hungering part of you. While the meal fills the belly and awakens the senses, this novel fills the soul and awakens the conscience. This novel is good not in the "eat your vegetables - they are good for you" sense, but in the "it was good spending time with you" sense.

Well done, Shamsie. I eagerly await your next novel.