Under the Tamarind Tree : A beautiful novel of friendship, hidden secrets, and loss

Author: Alam, Nigar

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Published on 25 April 2024 by Bedford Square Publishers in the United Kingdom.

Paperback | 320 pages
199 x 129 x 20 | 222g

A story of love tested to its limits by moral dilemmas, and the beauty and fragility of childhood friendships.

1964 — Karachi, Pakistan. Rozeena will lose her home, her parents’ safe haven since fleeing India and the terrors of Partition, if her medical career doesn’t take off soon. But success may come with a price. Meanwhile, the interwoven lives of her childhood best friends — Haaris, Aalya, and Zohair — seem to be unraveling with each passing day. The once small and inconsequential differences between their families’ social standing now threaten to divide them. Then one fateful night someone ends up dead and the life they took for granted shatters.

Rozeena receives a call from a voice she never thought she’d hear again. What begins as an request to look after a friend’s teenaged granddaughter grows into an unconventional friendship — one that unearths buried secrets and just might ruin everything Rozeena has worked so hard to protect.

Captivating and atmospheric, Under the Tamarind Tree shows us the high-stakes ripple effects of generational trauma, and the lengths people will go to safeguard the ones they love.