ABOUT
THE BOOK

From the author of Maps for Lost Lovers and The Wasted Vigil comes a searing, exquisitely written novel set in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the months following 9/11 – a story of war, of one family’s losses and of the simplest, most enduring human impulses.

Jeo and Mikal, foster-brothers from a small Pakistani town, secretly enter Afghanistan: not to fight with the Taliban, but to help care for wounded civilians. But it soon becomes apparent that good intentions can’t keep them out of harm’s way …

From the wilds of Afghanistan to the heart of the family left behind – their blind father, haunted by the death of his wife and by the mistakes he may have made in the name of Islam and nationhood; Jeo’s wife, whose increasing resolve helps keep the household running, and her superstitious mother – Aslam takes us on an extraordinary journey.

In language as lyrical as it is piercing, The Blind Man’s Garden unflinchingly describes a topical yet timeless world, powerfully evoking a place where the line between friend and enemy can be lost and where the desire to return home can burn brightest of all.