Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
I have mentioned Kamila Shamsie a couple of times here on the blog. She is an author I discovered while looking for South Asian writers on Amazon. I worked my way through Salt and Saffron, Kartography, and Broken Verses. Reading her books was like discovering a band. You listen to their first album and hear the raw talent. Then their second album comes out, and you’re equally blown away and vindicated for touting them to all your friends. If comparing authors to rock stars is a thing then, Kamila Shamsie is that crossover icon. Home Fire is a rediscovery of sorts for me, as I haven’t read Shamsie in some ten years. Here are my thoughts.
Synopsis
Home Fire is a character-driven, nuanced political and family drama. Two families, Pasha and Lone, are at the center of a web originating in Britain and reaching America, Syria, Turkey, and Pakistan.
Adil Pasha, raised in London by Pakistani parents, leaves his wife and eldest child to pursue glory in Chechnya and Bosnia. He comes home long enough to reconcile with his wife and leave her pregnant with twins. He feels no responsibility towards his elderly parents, his wife, or his offspring. Instead, he is captured, tortured, and dies. And this is his legacy to his children. They must carry their father’s brand, terrorist, with them everywhere forever.
Karamat Lone, also raised in London by Pakistani parents. He, too, feels the calling of glory and greatness. Only he wants to improve Britain, starting his salvo by touting assimilation and closing by saying citizenship is a privilege to be based on an individual’s actions, not on the accident of birth. He fully assimilates himself by denouncing all religion, marrying a wealthy American woman of Irish descent, and serving his country by joining Parliament and eventually becoming Home Secretary.
Review
The structure of this book must be the result of meticulous planning. Aneeka’s section is in the middle, but she is prominent throughout Home Fire. Isma introduces the story, Eamonn sets it in motion, Pervaiz serves the climax, and Karamat provides perspective on the aftermath.
Shamsie writes real people with all their nuance and complexity. Isma, older sister to twins Aneeka and Pervaiz, must give up on her own plans to mother the Pasha siblings as they become orphans during their formative years. Aneeka, sure of herself and deeply connected with twin Pervaiz, lives for herself until she realizes she cannot leave all behind. Pervaiz, passionate about sound engineering but not quite ready for prime time, is an easy target for those preying on the vulnerable. Then there is the Lone family and how they intersect with the Pashas at critical moments of their lives. Father, Karamat, determined to rise to the political ranks of Parliament, not only leaves behind his humble roots but seems bent on a scorched earth policy regarding that very same Muslim community. Meanwhile, son Eamonn, having grown up with the same privileges as landed gentry, ineffectually coasts through life. But each is connected in their past as much as they are in the present.
Final Thoughts
Kamila Shamsie’s canon is rife with character-driven stories. Her characters may have a basis in archetypes, but they are never cardboard cutout characters. Home Fire is no exception. In fact, it is exemplary.
But perhaps the best indication of Shamsie’s mastery of writing is how she benignly describes a particular Bollywood song and dance number for you to realize, later, that she has actually cunningly foreshadowed what is to come.
