Imagine a town called �Dasht-e-Tanhai� (Desert of loneliness), a town with Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi immigrants... A town whose residents struggle to hold on to their customs, beliefs and traditions in the face of changing times and circumstances... and you can be sure that the story will be one that is familiar... it doesn't matter that the town is in England.. Far from the roots of the immigrants who have rushed there to escape their fate in their homeland, and yet struggle to grasp the frail threads that tie them to their origins. Yes, the story is familiar. We have heard, or at least read in the papers, about the young lovers who are killed for going against the wishes of their elders.....we are so aware of the fear parents have, that their children will fly the coop someday... find their wings and live their own life.. their own way... Today, as I opened the newspaper, the first article I set eyes on, was one of a minister suggesting that the best way to avoid girls being raped was to get them married at an early age! Yes, we are familiar with such stories, however shocking they may be. It is such stories which make up the book, �Maps for Lost Lovers�, by Nadeem Aslam. What sets the book apart, from the �familiarity� of the stories, is Aslam�s beautiful prose and the way he handles the characters, who stay with us long after the book is over and done with!
