About Book
The epic story of two Pakistani brothers who go to war in Afghanistan after 9/11, for very different and surprising reasons
Love is not consolation, it is light
From the author of Maps for Lost Lovers and The Wasted Vigil comes a novel set in the months after 9/11, when Western armies invaded Afghanistan a story of love, hope and grief, of uncorrupted faith and of what it means to be alive.
Jeo and his foster-brother Mikal leave their home in Pakistan to help care for wounded Afghans. Within hours of entering the wide-horizoned Afghan landscape, Mikal and Jeo are separated and, emerging from the carnage, Mikal begins his search for Jeo. But his deepest wish is to return home to the young woman he loves and who loves him, Jeos wife.
The Blind Mans Garden maps a place both phantasmally beautiful and chilling. Taking us on a journey from Al Qaedas hideouts in Waziristan and American-built military prisons to a family left behind Mikals and Jeos blind, regretful father, Jeos resolute wife and her superstitious mother it unflinchingly examines war and brotherhood, devastation, separation and remorse, while celebrating the redemptive power of nature, art and literature.
About Author
Nadeem Aslam is the author of three previous novels, Season of the Rainbirds (1993), Maps for Lost Lovers (2004) longlisted for the Booker Prize, shortlisted for the IMPAC Prize, and awarded the Kiriyama Prize and the Encore Award and, most recently, The Wasted Vigil (2008), described by A. S. Byatt as unforgettable . . . tragic and beautifully written. Born in Pakistan, he now lives in England. In 2012 he was a made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.