Jasmine Days

Translated from the Malayalam by Shahnaz Habib

2020 Longlist

Young Radio Jockey Sameera Parvin from Pakistan moves to an unnamed city in the Middle East to live with her father and her relatives. Sameera thrives in her job as a radio jockey and at home is the darling of her family, but her happy world starts to fall apart when revolution occurs in the country. As the people’s agitation gathers strength, Sameera finds herself and her family embroiled in the politics of their adopted land. She is forced to choose between family and friends, loyalty and love, life and death.

Jasmine Days is the heart-rending story of a young woman in a city where the promise of revolution turns into destruction and division.

About the Author

Benyamin is a novelist and short story writer. Goat Days won him the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award in 2009 and was shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. Jasmine Days is his second novel that is set in the Middle East.

Librarian’s Comments

The novel tells the story of Sameera Pravia, a young pakistani woman who works as a radio jockey in an unnamed middle eastern country which is on the verge of revolution. The plot is a down to earth characterization of the protagonist. The art of story telling is distinct and keeps one engaged until the end. Written very intelligently, it tells the lives of foreign workers in the middle east. India International Centre Library, India