Soniah Kamal

Soniah Kamal is a Pakistani-American writer. She is the author of two novels, An Isolated Incident (2014) and Unmarriageable (2019).[1] The latter is a retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice set in Pakistan in 2000 and 2001.[2]

Early life and education

Kamal was born in Karachi, Pakistan and attended an English-medium school.[3] She subsequently lived in England and Saudi Arabia, and then attended St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland as an undergraduate, studying philosophy.[4]

Writing

An Isolated Incident

Kamal published her first novel, An Isolated Incident, in 2014. It is set in Kashmir, the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan.[5] Reviewing the book for Dawn, Fareeha Rafique wrote, "Kamal’s beautiful use of language is what carries her story."[6] An Isolated Incident was a finalist for the 2016 Townsend Prize for Fiction from The Chattahoochee Review and the Georgia Center for the Book.[7]

Unmarriageable

Kamal's second novel, Unmarriageable, was published January 22, 2019.[8][9] The retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice features Pakistani English teacher (and Austen fan) Alys Binat and her four sisters,[10] a formerly high-society family that has fallen on comparatively hard times owing to family betrayal. Their mother is anxious to see her daughters married, particularly Alys and Jena (the two eldest), but the task is a challenge as the family has lost most of its money and former social standing. Set in Pakistan in 2000 and 2001, the Binat sisters traverse a diverse Pakistani social and cultural scene as their mother attempts to encourage opportunities to encounter suitors. Jena meets a kind and wealthy man, Fahad Bingla—affectionately called "Bungles"—but Bungles' best friend Valentine Darsee and protagonist Alys take a quick dislike to one another, which, along with the intervention of Bungles' snobbish sisters, prevents the pair's budding relationship from moving forward. Jena is heartbroken. Yet, partly through Mrs. Binat's persistence in promoting her daughters' social engagements, the families' social circles keep intersecting and Darsee eventually finds that he has fallen in love with Alys, who shares his love of books as well as a cosmopolitan outlook born of childhoods partly lived abroad. He abruptly proposes marriage, which she rejects, both because of an early insult she overheard him make toward both her appearance and her intelligence, and because his cousin Jeorgeullah Wickaam has recounted to Alys how Darsee cruelly cut Wickaam, an orphan, out of the family will. Desperate to regain Alys's trust, Darsee writes her a letter apologizing for his role in keeping Bungles from Jena as well as confiding the true reason for Wickaam's disinheritance: Wickaam had fathered, then abandoned, numerous children out of wedlock with servant women, and, ultimately with Darsee's sister. Family money allows his sister to travel to Europe to seek an abortion, but the lower-income women he had previously fathered children with did not have this option, nor any support from Wickaam in raising their children, so Darsee and family elect to spend Wickaam's inheritance establishing a school for disadvantaged students that his children could also attend. Darsee comes to the rescue again when it is Alys's party-girl youngest sister, Lady, whose reputation is in trouble: she too runs away with Wickaam, who demands to be paid $100,000 to marry her and restore the Binat sisters' good name. The family has no way to afford the ransom, but Darsee pays it secretly, attending the small wedding ceremony himself to make certain Wickaam would go through with the marriage rather than abscond with the money and abandon Lady as he had the mothers of his children. Alys and Darsee each tell Jena and Bungles they have seriously misjudged the situation and Bungles immediately proposes to Jena. Alys begins to warm to Darsee, particularly after learning he was the one to rescue her youngest sister, and when he proposes again, she accepts.

Publishers Weekly called the book "a funny, sometimes romantic, often thought-provoking glimpse into Pakistani culture, one which adroitly illustrates the double standards women face when navigating sex, love, and marriage. This is a must-read for devout Austenites."[11] Reviewing the novel for NPR, Ilana Masad wrote, "Kamal's Unmarriageable succeeds in being both a deliciously readable romantic comedy and a commentary on class in post-colonial, post-partition Pakistan, where the effects of the British Empire still reverberate."[12]

Personal life

Kamal has three children.[3] She lives in Georgia.[13]

References

  1. "Pride and Prejudice Redux | Fiction Reviews". The Library Journal. October 19, 2018. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  2. Rehman, Sonya (October 12, 2018). "Recreating 'Pride and Prejudice' in Pakistan". Forbes. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  3. Grey, Idris (October 26, 2018). "Modernizing Austen: PW Talks with Soniah Kamal". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  4. "Two South Asians Among Townsend Prize Finalists". India West. May 6, 2016. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  5. "An Isolated Incident: In first novel, Soniah Kamal looks at survival". The Express Tribune. 18 December 2014. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  6. Rafique, Fareeha (23 February 2015). "Cover story: Other worlds, troubled worlds". Dawn. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  7. "2016 Townsend Prize Finalists". The Hooch: News & Events. The Chattahoochee Review. 11 January 2016. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  8. Lakshmi Gandhi (2018-10-17). "Why South Asian Authors Continue to be Inspired by Jane Austen". The Teal Mango. Archived from the original on 2021-01-31. Retrieved 2018-10-25. One of the most anticipated novels of 2019 is “Ayesha at Last” by Pakistani-Canadian author Uzma Jalaluddin. Already released in Canada, the book centers on Ayesha Shamsi, an unconventional young woman in the middle of a loud and boistrous South Asian family.
  9. "UNMARRIAGEABLE by Soniah Kamal". Kirkus Reviews. October 2, 2018. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  10. Trombetta, Sadie. "9 Jane Austen Retellings You Might Not Have Read Yet". Bustle. Archived from the original on 29 November 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  11. "Fiction Book Review: Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal. Ballantine, $27 (352p) ISBN 978-1-5247-9971-7". Publishers Weekly. October 29, 2018. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  12. Masad, Ilana (January 20, 2019). "'Unmarriageable' Sets 'Pride And Prejudice' In Pakistan". NPR. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  13. McCarthy, Maureen (January 21, 2019). "Review: 'Unmarriageable: Pride and Prejudice in Pakistan,' by Soniah Kamar". Minneapolis Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
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