A Matter OF Detail
By Maniza Naqvi

"A Matter of Detail is an astonishing text. This richly intertwined novel is deeply embedded in the convoluted heritage of a multicultural ethos that spans at least Shia, Sunni and Jewish trajectories, as well as the most secular and militaristic of conflicted capitalisms that plague a benighted contemporary Pakistan. Maniza Naqvi's luminous novel is far more than a delicate rendition of the cultural relations in a newly independent public nation. Instead, it offers a brilliant kaleidoscope of post colonial histories that impel vibrant stories of men and women who are balanced between jagged eras, and torn cultures. Naqvi's ironic analysis of the middle-class marriage market in Pakistan gives her female characters rare depth. It is their poignant struggle for survival that quickens this narrative giving it a translucence that must be read to be experienced. Naqvi's canvas is ambitiously large; it will doubtlessly receive an equally generous readership." Sara Suleri Goodyear (Author of Meatless Days; Boys Will Be Boys and The Rhetoric of English India) "The story is beautiful!...a story of extraordinary nuanced characters and their lives...a history of Karachi, a remembrance of a way of life. It stays with you long, long after you've read the last line." Sabrina Dhawan (Script writer for Monsoon Wedding) "A very important work that gives us hope and strength to face our turbulent present by recognizing our past. A timely novel, full of exquisite details. I love the multi-cultural past of Karachi that is so vibrant and alive, like a film, in Maniza's writing". Sabiha Sumar (Film maker and Director of Kamosh Pani: Silent Waters)