Shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize

By the acclaimed winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction 2018

For every bullet shot by an oppressor there springs to life a star

Hasan lives an idyllic childhood of abundance: of pomegranates and cricket and ostensible serenity. This illusory veneer of calm is shattered when his beloved uncle Salman, a dissenting politician in a land shackled by a militaristic regime, is charged with treason, under possible penalty of death.

Written with melancholic lyrical beauty and urgency, In the City by the Sea examines the loss of childhood innocence under political oppression.

"A touching and engrossing story … an assured debut" - The Times

"A colourful and peripatetic view of politics in Pakistan … an interesting and promising novel" - Guardian