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'Beautifully written in cunning, punning, glancing prose' - Independent

'A whirlwind … Owes plenty to Salman Rushdie and some to Hollywood … Exuberant, knowingly exotic and deceptively serious' - Guardian

'Kamila Shamsie has created a rich, bright world' - Times Literary Supplement

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BY THE ACCLAIMED WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

The Dard-e-Dils are characterised by their prominent clavicles and love of stories. Aliya may not have inherited her family's patrician looks, but she is prey to their legends that stretch back to the days of Timur Lang. There is a sting to most of these tales, for the Dard-e-Dils consider themselves cursed by their 'not-quite' twins. Amidst her growing attraction to a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, Aliya begins to believe that she is another 'not-quite' twin, linked to her scandalous aunt Mariam in a way that hardly bodes well…

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'A funny, clever and romantic story' - Barbara Trapido

'The stories within the stories describe Pakistani society, its peoples and its mores, better than anything that has come from the Other Side for a long time. This is a good read' - India Today