The River, The Town, Farah Ali
The River, The Town, Farah Ali
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

The River, The Town
A Novel

Author: Farah Ali

Narrator: Jeed Saddy

Unabridged: 7 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 02/06/2024


Synopsis

A poignant and powerful first novel following the breakup of a Pakistani family in the face of climate disaster, and their indefatigable search for stability, love, and belonging.

In the rural town in Pakistan where Baadal grows up, children are named like talismans to sustain life and ward off unhappiness. At seventeen, Baadal has come to understand why his parents gave him that name, with hopes that their Big River will one day flow wide again, and their thirst will be quenched after years of drought. But in the final year of his schooling, abundance seems impossibly far away. As his parents' marriage—full of rage, despair, and often violence—reaches a breaking point, the only comfort Baadal can afford is a budding kinship with Meena, a divorced older woman he meets on the banks of the drying river.

Meena has only just escaped her abusive husband, but her resistance to remarry soon gives way to the promise of stability and companionship that Baadal offers. Together, they leave the town in search of greater fortunes in the city. But even strong-willed, independent Meena finds herself bowed by the strain of Badaal's punishing work schedule, her struggling beauty parlor, and the tension with Baadal's mother, Raheela, as she seeks to leave behind a life of disappointments and discover a freedom she's never known.

About Farah Ali

Farah Ali grew up in Karachi, Pakistan, and currently lives in London. Her work has been anthologized in the 2020 Pushcart Prize and received special mention in the 2018 Pushcart anthology. Her debut story collection People Want to Live includes stories previously published in VQR, Shenandoah, The Arkansas International, MQR, The Southern Review, Kenyon Review, Copper Nickel, and others.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Fran

The River the Town Imagine going outside and seeing the dirt, the limp trees, the world so filled with unhappiness, one where you cannot get a solid drink of water, no sink in your home just the stream or the river. What would you do if you lived in a place where food was scarce, lives were lost, and......more

Goodreads review by Lydia

This is a hypnotic, beautiful, devastating novel about family, environment, poverty, desire, interconnection, and the choices people make under ecological and economic duress. It is also an intimate, utterly compassionate but unsentimental character study and family story, full of carefully rendered......more

Goodreads review by Saniya

This book started out interesting, showcasing the life of a poverty stricken village, a kid named Baadal and his toxic family. But the characters and their stories were not developed enough for me to want to keep going. The story hopped around from character to character but I didn’t like the flow o......more