Anwar Gets Everything

by Tahmima Anam

‘Two ways a man can go here, in the direction of God or the direction of believing there is nothing up there but a sun that will kill you whether you pray five times or not.’

Paperback

First published April 15, 2013

About the author

Tahmima Anam is an award-winning novelist, short story writer, and anthropologist. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Granta Best Young British Novelist, and winner of a Commonwealth Writers Prize. Her work has been published in Granta, The New York Times, and The Guardian. She was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh and lives in London, where she is on the board of ROLI, a music technology startup founded by her husband.

The Startup Wife (07/13/2021) is her latest novel.

Reviews

[Danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Below the Dubai sun, the desperation of Kafala migrants is evident for all to see, and the situation is no different for the protagonist Anwar, who thinks of his wife, child and former lover as he deals with the dire working conditions high above the glitzy metropolitan ground. Then a new kid enters with a swagger and optimistic attitude that changes things. At least until tragedy inevitably hits.

The story is a brutally poignant tale about the life of a migrant worker in the UAE and I think fiction like this is crucial in humanising an experience that causes outrage through tragedy but not the sufficient corresponding actions.