As a stroke of genius, Kamila Shamsie chooses as the protagonist of her debut novel a young boy and so avoids the domain of 'Muslim/ Asian womanhood' which is so emotive and fraught with stereotypes. Instead the reader in taken through a cool and moving journey which is ultimately a triumph for the freedom and grace that can be found in a Muslim childhood. Hasan is an 11 year old living in a Asian dictatorship (unnamed). His family are Westernized and highly educated, privilaged and very supportive. But his beloved uncle,Salmaan Mooto, an opposition leader, is under house arrest and subsequently tried for treason. Shamsie skillfully shows a child's perspective to a family crisis. Her portrait of the life of the upper classes in a Third World country is truthful and unselfconcious. For a writer so young, she is head and shoulders above many 'Asian woman' writers.
