Read more
About the author
Bapsi Sidhwa was born in Karachi in 1938 to Parsi parents, and raised in Lahore. She is one of Pakistan's foremost female novelists and widely acclaimed to be one of its finest. She is the author of several novels including, The Bride, The Crow Eaters, An American Brat, Ice-Candy Man, and Water. In 1991 she received the Sitra-i-Imtiaz, Pakistan's highest honour in the arts.
Summary
Seeking capitalist ventures and fortune, Faredoon - Freddy - Junglewalla moves his family - his pregnant wife, children and belligerent mother-in-law - from their ancestral village in rural India to the bustling metropolis of Lahore. Welcomed by the small but tight-knit Parsi community, Freddy establishes a booming business and his family soon become one of the most respected in Lahore. It seems that the only thing holding Freddy back is his sizeable and burdensome mother-in-law.
As his family grows, and events - funny, tragic and life-changing - occur, Freddy's reach permeates the wider country and an intricate portrait of colonial India is revealed . But when tragedy forces Freddy to rethink his legacy, intimations of historic change loom on the country's horizon.
Wickedly funny and searingly honest, The Crow Eaters is a vibrant portrait of a Parsi family taking its place in colonial India on the brink of the 20th Century, from one of Pakistan's best-loved and finest novelists.
Foreword
'One of the great comic novels of the 20th Century.' - Hanif Kureishi
