Turquoise

by Aamer Hussein

Direct and startlingly intimate, Hussein’s stories are set in troubled times – in Karachi, Lahore and London – amid war, partition, and military rule, the anticipation and anxiety of changing homes or cities, the mixed blessings of family life, the hopes and failures of love and work. Turquoise is a collection of stories that illuminate the passions and fears of a world more complex and more beautiful than the media images of Islam and Pakistan convey.

180 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2002

About the author

Aamer Hussein was born in Karachi in 1955 and moved to London in 1970 for further education after a year at boarding school in India. He has a degree in Urdu, Persian and South Asian studies from SOAS, and later studied French, philosophy and psychology. He began publishing fiction in the 1980s in journals and anthologies. His first collection of stories, Mirror to the Sun, appeared in 1993, to be followed by This Other Salt, Turquoise, Cactus Town, and Insomnia. He has also published a novella, Another Gulmohar Tree (2009) and a novel, The Cloud Messenger (2011). His stories have been translated into many languages, including Italian, Arabic and Japanese. In 2012, he contributed four original stories and a memoir in Urdu to the Karachi journal Dunyazad. Hussein, who is also an essayist and critic, is Professorial Writing Fellow in the Department of English and Humanities at the University of Southampton, and a Senior Fellow of the Institute of English Studies at London University.

Reviews

[John Hills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories went way over my head, such as ‘The City of Longing' which I actually found cringey but maybe it had a lot of deeper meaning I didn't grasp. The titular story ‘Turquoise' was great and the ending resonated with me, reminding me of many friendships I've had and lost over the years. The best story by far was the last one, ‘The Needlewomans Calendar' as I really felt invested in the happiness and success of the characters. Pretty good selection of stories, but nothing that blew me away

[TinHouseBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liz Lampman (Editorial Intern, Tin House Books): I may not remember much from my college lit courses, but I do remember a few good books. This week Aamer Hussein’s collection of short stories, called Turquoise, jumped off my shelf and into my welcoming hands. From the first Akhmatova epigraph to the final (and my favorite) story, “The Needlewoman’s Calendar,” Hussein brings Karachi, Lahore, and London to life by blending ancient songs and stories with the intimacy and hardship of his memorable characters. Turquoise is careful, culturally rich, and musical.