A Place for Us

Reviews / Votes

I'm particularly interested in stories of immigrants and I loved Fatima Farheen Mirza's A Place for Us, about an Indian family living in America -- Anne Tyler * Observer * Deeply moving... The story comes together gradually, through the perspective of various family members, as it weaves through different points in time. Mirza's writing is poignantly beautiful * Daily Mail * I loved every minute of this novel; Mirza's prose and her story squeezed my heart, and I had to take a very long, deep breath upon finishing the book. This is a writer to watch out for * Stylist * The depth of the storytelling and the beauty of the language makes this debut something to treasure. Highly recommended -- John Boyne Telling the story via multiple perspectives, the author paints an incredibly textured and compassionate portrait of the characters' lives. Their love for one another is undeniable, yet their inability to communicate it is devastating. As they collectively and individually struggle with the expectations of their heritage as well as contemporary life, A Place For Us is a timeless, yet also timely, family epic -- Aisling O'Leary * Irish Times * Absolutely gorgeous... Mirza writes with the wisdom, insight and patience you would expect from a mature novelist adding a final masterpiece to her canon, but this is, fortunately, just the start of an extraordinary career... As Marilynne Robinson has done with Protestants and Alice McDermott has done with Catholics Mirza finds in the intensity of a faithful Muslim family a universal language of love and anguish that speaks to us all... among the most poignant things I have ever read... a privilege -- Ron Charles * Washington Post * In polished prose that zeroes in on domestic detail and, at its loveliest, recalls Jhumpa Lahiri, Mirza delivers a portrait of a family straining to hold its center amid rebellions both quiet and explosive * Time Magazine * Textured and keenly felt... profound... stuck with me long after I finished the book's final page -- Lauren Christiansen * New York Times * A modern family saga, it follows the conflict between duty, tradition and temptation... bold in its subject matter and moving -- Patricia Nicol * Sunday Times * This powerful, intricate debut is essential reading -- NoViolet Bulawayo, Man Booker-shortlisted author of We Need New Names Told with tender delicacy, A Place for Us is a moving and joyful portrait of a modern family, about growing up between two cultures, reconciling with the past, and identity as a lived experience * Independent * Moving, thought-provoking and ultimately positive, this is a story about family, tradition and culture in a modern world * Red * A brilliant, highly readable contemporary tale of identity and belonging * Elle * Mirza is a gifted storyteller and this moving novel was one of the highlights of my reading year -- John Boyne * Irish Independent * This is a richly detailed, immersive saga that hooks you from the jump and keeps you absorbed even as you spend decades with its character * Marie Claire * The best book I've read this year -- Jen Campbell, vlogger & booktuber In this stunning, generous novel, Mirza looks at the crucial events in an Indian-American Muslim family from many perspectives * Refinery29 * Mirza's writing is like poetry as she examines just how far the bonds of family can bend * Glamour (US) * The great achievement of this novel - as of Vikram Seth's witty and bounteous classic, A Suitable Boy - is that it traces family troubles that could happen to anybody... touching and unsettling... If this is the standard of Sarah Jessica Parker's list, we can look forward to a feast from Hogarth * Bookoxygen * Fatima Mirza is brilliant and this novel will break your heart and make it new again -- Garth Greenwell