Author/editor Tayyba Kanwal's stellar Talking with Boys crisscrosses Houston, Dubai, and Lahore (and nearby surrounds) over seven decades in 15 intriguingly linked stories centering mostly Muslim characters searching out, albeit not always finding, other options for how to live less stagnant lives. While each story easily stands alone, connecting various narrative threads, of course, provides additional satisfaction.
"The Girl Who Ran" opens in 2015 Houston when high school senior Amal defies traditional expectations and marries university student Zee, "the boy her family had forbidden her from seeing"--then leaves him when his mother offers her a different future. "Talking with Boys" spotlights Mariam, who is dating Amal's brother, and her complicated relationship with her younger sister. "Mehr" introduces a Pakistani teen whose burqa allows her to disappear and escape the fate of early marriage embraced by her cousin Shama, who returns as a new immigrant to Houston with a young daughter, Zoya, in "A Shade for the Window." Zoya ends the collection in "Bungalow" as a mathematician buying her first home.
Houston-based Pakistani American Kanwal's debut was deservedly designated Black Lawrence Immigration Series' 2024 selection. She distinguishes her fiction by deftly showcasing global migrations rather than limiting her characters to U.S.-based aspirations. The interwoven stories based in Dubai disturbingly expose the myriad of abuses by privileged residents on their migrant staff. Arrival to a destination, Kanwal posits, offers no guarantee--some might choose to return home, others might forcibly be removed. Welcome can never be expected. Writing in straightforward prose infused with meticulous insight, Kanwal presents notable characters commanding attention and inspiring lingering empathy. --Terry Hong