The Family Tree - Sairish Hussain

ISBN:9780000829748 Publisher: HQ fiction

A beautifully told, heart warming story

I heard Sairish Hussain at the Platform conference and was impressed by her writing process and her passion to tell a story that did not have any of the stereotypes that seems to plague South Asian fiction.

The book was shortlisted for the Costa prize and has been very well received.  I just finished it and found it to be just as beautifully layered and structured as it pretty cover. 

Gist: 

When the story opens, Amjad has just lost his young wife and is cradling his newborn daughter in his arms.

His son Saahil is his support and Amjad begins to build a life that sees his children well settled in their future. However, one accident changes their lives forever taking them in directions with some devastating consequences. 

Will the family be able to get through it and become whole again?

My review:

Loved the opening chapters that takes the reader into the life of this British Pakistani family as they are picking themselves up from a tragedy. I found myself invested in the characters. Every one of them, even the minor ones are memorable as the story moves from one decade to the next.

I liked how the story is weaved in with the topical events of the time, which clocks the perception of the British Muslim public and tells their side of the story. It is amazing how Hussain uses her characters to express the Muslim view of the heavily politicised events.

It tackles some big themes of grief, homelessness and addiction through her characters which adds depth to her novel. The pain and the anguish comes alive in those pages and this is down to Hussain's storytelling skills.

Overall, a fabulously constructed story. I loved how the action and drama accelerate towards the latter half alternating between two different scenes, resulting in a well constructed finale. 

An engaging, layered narrative that grips the reader till the end.  I can easily see it as a TV series. 

Sairish Hussain is writing her next. I will be definitely looking out that one.