The Parsi Indians of 1900 were a 'fatalistic people...unconditionally resigned to the ups and downs of life', so Freddy's insurance fraud is a culturally unthinkable act; a Western act, if you will. As the daughter of a librarian Jen's love of books started from a very early age. Her reading obsession continued throughout her teenage years when she studied both English Language and English Literature at college. It is 1948, and England is recovering from a war. But at 21 Nevern Street, London, the conflict has only just begun. I have a beef with South-East Asian authors. It seems that (the ones i have read; jhumpa lahiri, the god of small things)deliberately have underlying depressing themes to their novels. I mean it makes sense, misery is easier to do than satire or comedy. But it always makes me feel like my emotions are being exploited. As if I am being told how to feel something, and I dislike that immensely. Phew! That’s quite the list! There are a few on there I have read but so many I haven’t. Hopefully this Big Jubilee Read book list has inspired you to try books from across the commonwealth.

The Crow Eaters by Bapsi Sidhwa, Fatima Bhutto | Waterstones

One of my absolute favourite genres is the Indian family saga. I don’t know if it’s because I grew up in a very small nuclear family and all celebrations were therefore a fairly small affair that I love these stories of large families and their fortunes through the generations but whatever the reason, I love reading them. A commoner causes turmoil in the court of King Henry VIII, a London waterman is transported to New South Wales, and a Pakistani woman tries to create a day to remember. 2002-2011

The crow eaters

On a hot January evening that he will remember for decades, Elias Cole first catches sight of Saffia Kamara, the wife of a charismatic colleague. He is transfixed. Thirty years later, lying in the capital’s hospital, he recalls the desire that drove him to acts of betrayal he has tried to justify ever since. Readers of Urdu will finally be able to catch up with The Crow Eaters, one of the finest novels to have come out ofPakistan. I remember that when it was first published there was some bewilderment and even some resentment and anger. What kind of reactions are you anticipating from the novel’s new readers? There is an air of family legend passed down and embroidered somewhat over the years, myths within which Sidhwa can see the essence of life, a force far stronger than honesty and sentimentality.

The crow Eaters summary

Ji Lin, an apprentice dressmaker, moonlights as a dancehall girl to pay her mother’s debts. One night, Ji Lin’s dance partner leaves her with a gruesome souvenir that leads her on a crooked, dark trail. A contemporary classic, The Remains of the Dayis Kazuo Ishiguro’s beautiful and haunting evocation of life between the wars in a Great English House. It was soon after its first publication that I read The Crow Eaters, a bit of an oddity then, a Pakistani novel in English and thoroughly enjoyable to boot. Since then, many editions have replaced the modest and simple original one and Pakistani novels have become fashionable. Yet The Crow Eaters remains at the top of the list, unique and delightful. Going through it once again, this time in Urdu, translated by Muhammad Umar Memon, I found it as engaging as ever. It was once impossible to imagine that this novel could exist in any other condition. But The Crow Eaters not only manages to survive transportation into another context through translation, but at the same time remains as readable as it originally was. I certainly hope all my novels will be translated into Urdu. After all, they’re all based inLahore. Even in my mind, as I was writing, I was translating into English from Urdu and Punjabi. That came naturally to me, and I realised almost at once how closely language, character and content are linked.In two powerful novels of belonging, one of Africa’s most important writers explores village life and the traditions of Botswana. Born at the stroke of midnight at the exact moment of India's independence, Saleem Sinai is a special child. However, this coincidence of birth has consequences he is not prepared for: telepathic powers connect him with 1,000 other 'midnight's children' all of whom are endowed with unusual gifts.