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This Wide Night
The Maliks live a life of relative freedom in 1970s Karachi: Four beautiful sisters, Maria, Ayesha, Leila and Beena, are warily watched over by an unconventional mother. Captain Malik is usually away and so the women forge the rules of their own universe, taking in a few men: Amir, the professor who falls in love with Maria and Jamal or Jimmy, the neighbor who tells this tale. The curious young man is drawn in by all four sisters and particularly by rebellious Ayesha. But slowly, it becomes clear he will never completely penetrate their circle—just as they will never completely move with the tide that swirls so potently around them.
In the quietly seething world of This Wide Night, Virgin Suicides meets Little Women in Pakistan. Moving from Karachi to London and finally to the rain-drenched island of Manora, here is a compelling new novel from the subcontinent—and a powerful debut to watch.
In the quietly seething world of This Wide Night, Virgin Suicides meets Little Women in Pakistan. Moving from Karachi to London and finally to the rain-drenched island of Manora, here is a compelling new novel from the subcontinent—and a powerful debut to watch.
312 pages, Hardcover
First published December 23, 2016
3 people are currently reading
415 people want to read
About the author
Sarvat Hasin
6 books106 followersSarvat Hasin is from Pakistan. She has a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Oxford.
Her first novel, This Wide Night, was published by Penguin India and longlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. Her second book You Can’t Go Home Again was published in 2018 and featured in Vogue India’s and The Hindu’s end of year lists. She won the Moth Writer’s Retreat Bursary in 2018 and the Mo Siewcharran Prize in 2019. Her essays and poetry have appeared in publications such as Outsiders, The Mays Anthology, English PEN, and Harper’s Bazaar. She lives in London and works at the Almeida Theatre.
Her new novel, The Giant Dark, is a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It is forthcoming from Dialogue Books on the 8th of July
Her first novel, This Wide Night, was published by Penguin India and longlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. Her second book You Can’t Go Home Again was published in 2018 and featured in Vogue India’s and The Hindu’s end of year lists. She won the Moth Writer’s Retreat Bursary in 2018 and the Mo Siewcharran Prize in 2019. Her essays and poetry have appeared in publications such as Outsiders, The Mays Anthology, English PEN, and Harper’s Bazaar. She lives in London and works at the Almeida Theatre.
Her new novel, The Giant Dark, is a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It is forthcoming from Dialogue Books on the 8th of July
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 9, 2020
Penguin publishers, you should have left this one in the drafts.
I don't know how a book got published without being edited and proofread. There are so many typos and missing words in this book, it's off putting and lazy. Was this book not worth your time?
Let's start with the writing style and the formatting choices. This book has a unique writing style where there are no quotation marks in a dialogue. This is a little confusing in the beginning but you can get used to it. However, the lack of quotation marks allows the random capitalisation of a sentence and that was very distracting.
This book is marketed as The Virgin Suicides meets Little Women in Pakistan. I think the only similarity there is the existence of the four sisters. That's pretty much it. The entire premise of this book is based around the idea these four sisters are "not like other girls" because they're mysterious and different. What makes them different, you ask? Well, one of them likes to read books all the time, in dinner parties and weddings, she's an aspiring author and there's another sister who likes to paint. I think the author tried so hard to make these women different but wasn't actually able to execute it. She just kept saying that they're different because they sometimes wear pants and cut their hair short.
Another main character in this book is Jamal, whose only personality trait is that he's obsessed with the girls, and turn by turn, falls in love with each of them. The author fed him some really cringy lines where he described his teacher Maria, one of the sisters, as "womanliness pouring into the classroom." He's also the most basic, stereotypical character you will ever meet in a book. He's lonely because his parents are dead, and he doesn't have any friends, he gets into gambling and drugs and is an annoying person to read about. He's also described as "exotic" because he's half French, but does his heritage come into play at any point in the book? Nope. Because, that was a tactic to make him interesting.
Essentially all the characters in this book are cardboard cut-outs and extremely flat. We are constantly being told that they're interesting but in truth, they're anything but that.
I thought the long hair of the sisters in this book would be really symbolic but other than it being present, it didn't have any symbolic value. With four sisters who are meant to be so different - the author really missed out on the opportunity to give us good social commentary.
You can also tell that the author used tragedy to move the plot along i.e. the suicide of that one random character which changed the trajectory of Jamal's life.
In some parts, you can tell the author didn't live through some parts of history. That's understandable, she's young but if you're going to write about the '71 war - do you research and make it more impactful.
Overall, I was expecting to be "wowed" by the creepiness and atmosphere of this novel. Instead, I found myself laughing at the twist which would bring the girls' mother back from the dead.
If only this book was as good as the last three paragraphs..
I don't know how a book got published without being edited and proofread. There are so many typos and missing words in this book, it's off putting and lazy. Was this book not worth your time?
Let's start with the writing style and the formatting choices. This book has a unique writing style where there are no quotation marks in a dialogue. This is a little confusing in the beginning but you can get used to it. However, the lack of quotation marks allows the random capitalisation of a sentence and that was very distracting.
This book is marketed as The Virgin Suicides meets Little Women in Pakistan. I think the only similarity there is the existence of the four sisters. That's pretty much it. The entire premise of this book is based around the idea these four sisters are "not like other girls" because they're mysterious and different. What makes them different, you ask? Well, one of them likes to read books all the time, in dinner parties and weddings, she's an aspiring author and there's another sister who likes to paint. I think the author tried so hard to make these women different but wasn't actually able to execute it. She just kept saying that they're different because they sometimes wear pants and cut their hair short.
Another main character in this book is Jamal, whose only personality trait is that he's obsessed with the girls, and turn by turn, falls in love with each of them. The author fed him some really cringy lines where he described his teacher Maria, one of the sisters, as "womanliness pouring into the classroom." He's also the most basic, stereotypical character you will ever meet in a book. He's lonely because his parents are dead, and he doesn't have any friends, he gets into gambling and drugs and is an annoying person to read about. He's also described as "exotic" because he's half French, but does his heritage come into play at any point in the book? Nope. Because, that was a tactic to make him interesting.
Essentially all the characters in this book are cardboard cut-outs and extremely flat. We are constantly being told that they're interesting but in truth, they're anything but that.
I thought the long hair of the sisters in this book would be really symbolic but other than it being present, it didn't have any symbolic value. With four sisters who are meant to be so different - the author really missed out on the opportunity to give us good social commentary.
You can also tell that the author used tragedy to move the plot along i.e. the suicide of that one random character which changed the trajectory of Jamal's life.
In some parts, you can tell the author didn't live through some parts of history. That's understandable, she's young but if you're going to write about the '71 war - do you research and make it more impactful.
Overall, I was expecting to be "wowed" by the creepiness and atmosphere of this novel. Instead, I found myself laughing at the twist which would bring the girls' mother back from the dead.
If only this book was as good as the last three paragraphs..
July 10, 2021
"Words cast out between them catching nothing by the grace of their distance. Their lives set to different tracks, futures mapped out to part."
This is the kind of story that will keep haunting you because both the writing and the characters in it are quite haunting.
When someone gets emotionally and physically attached and is lost for most parts of their lives, how do they try to fit in back to something they thought they always belonged but never did?
For a man who's life is quite separated from the rest of the world but he sees fit only with the strange family of a war Captain who has four beautiful daughters and their perfect, homely mother this man almost let himself drown in some other worlds to let go of the confusing relationships and drown his sorrows.
The women he thinks he knew seem too far away when he felt they were the closest to him.
The more he tries to fix things, the worse he sees things fall apart. With almost everyone he knows being engulfed in grief and detachment, what more could the man do?
As indecisive and not being true to themselves all their lives, most of these haunting characters the story talks about their tragedy is as whimsical as their self doubt and suffering.
A tragedy to break through your soul when you know them as you read about them, try not to understand everyone you encounter here. As much as they're hurting themselves and hurting each other, pray you do not hurt yourself too while reading about them.
Because I just went through that holding this book day and night for the last few days.
This is the kind of story that will keep haunting you because both the writing and the characters in it are quite haunting.
When someone gets emotionally and physically attached and is lost for most parts of their lives, how do they try to fit in back to something they thought they always belonged but never did?
For a man who's life is quite separated from the rest of the world but he sees fit only with the strange family of a war Captain who has four beautiful daughters and their perfect, homely mother this man almost let himself drown in some other worlds to let go of the confusing relationships and drown his sorrows.
The women he thinks he knew seem too far away when he felt they were the closest to him.
The more he tries to fix things, the worse he sees things fall apart. With almost everyone he knows being engulfed in grief and detachment, what more could the man do?
As indecisive and not being true to themselves all their lives, most of these haunting characters the story talks about their tragedy is as whimsical as their self doubt and suffering.
A tragedy to break through your soul when you know them as you read about them, try not to understand everyone you encounter here. As much as they're hurting themselves and hurting each other, pray you do not hurt yourself too while reading about them.
Because I just went through that holding this book day and night for the last few days.
February 6, 2017
We're barely reaching the middle of January and, yet, I know this book will be one of my favourite reads of 2017.
Absolutely stunning!
Absolutely stunning!
July 4, 2017
It's a disservice to simply think of this as a homage to Little Women. This isn't just Little Women set in Karachi, retold from Laurie's perspective. Yes, there are definite allusions. But where Alcott wrote with warmth and familiarity, Hasin writes with an aloofness and a darkness. There's a malaise haunting her prose, tinder that sets aflame into an explosion at the end. What a phenomenal debut.
August 4, 2022
excellent to read in a post-timmy-as-laurie-world, absolutely delighted by the last chapter, found this very very captivating
March 14, 2017
A brilliant novel. This talks about how the life is in a conservative society. I really cannot imagine that this is a debut novel because it was created with such a perfection.Though a slow moving story, I liked it as it captured the essence of love, hatred, fear and all other human emotions.
I will not talk much because this is one book which one must buy and read to understand the nuances in minute detail.
I received this book as a part of Gooodreads free book review program.
I will not talk much because this is one book which one must buy and read to understand the nuances in minute detail.
I received this book as a part of Gooodreads free book review program.
August 26, 2017
This was so disappointing to read.
The whole plot and the characters were so great and had so much potential that I hated them being wasted on such bad writing style none of the sentences were connected and the flow of the story suffered and oh there were no speech quotes which made it all the more confusing, so cringeworthy ughgh.
I'm not going to force myself to read it any further and I give up.
Gonna go on to something that I actually like.
Sorry I don't mean to be rude,
Just an honest review.
The whole plot and the characters were so great and had so much potential that I hated them being wasted on such bad writing style none of the sentences were connected and the flow of the story suffered and oh there were no speech quotes which made it all the more confusing, so cringeworthy ughgh.
I'm not going to force myself to read it any further and I give up.
Gonna go on to something that I actually like.
Sorry I don't mean to be rude,
Just an honest review.
May 21, 2017
Book has terrible errors that point to poor editing. Feels like it hasn't been proofread.
On page 236, it says: 'They thought a London education me smarter.'
On page 215, it says: 'She wore someone else's earrings, gold flecked. They were glossy with hairspray and stuck to his fingers when he lifted them from her ears.'
What was glossy? Sure, a reader in the flow will understand that the author meant to refer to her hair but there are serious paragraph construction issues here.
On page 236, it says: 'They thought a London education me smarter.'
On page 215, it says: 'She wore someone else's earrings, gold flecked. They were glossy with hairspray and stuck to his fingers when he lifted them from her ears.'
What was glossy? Sure, a reader in the flow will understand that the author meant to refer to her hair but there are serious paragraph construction issues here.
December 21, 2020
Totally befitting the Little Women claim!
Luckily found a hardbound copy at Readings, finished this today, what's supposedly the longest night of the year, metaphors, metaphors..
I think this novel is broken and real and bittersweet is ways that's very rare and propelling esp in South Asian fiction. Very lucky to have read and enjoyed, sending light to the light. Thank you for ignoring snoozy endings, we all know those are just for the movies.
Luckily found a hardbound copy at Readings, finished this today, what's supposedly the longest night of the year, metaphors, metaphors..
I think this novel is broken and real and bittersweet is ways that's very rare and propelling esp in South Asian fiction. Very lucky to have read and enjoyed, sending light to the light. Thank you for ignoring snoozy endings, we all know those are just for the movies.
April 2, 2017
It's a beautiful book, although very sad. The Malik sisters will stay with me for a long time. And Jimmy, who deserved better...
![Profile Image for Khulood [IG:Khulogophile_reads].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1628630661i%2F60321494._UX200_CR0%2C111%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
October 29, 2021
"Buddy read Book Review"
💜 "This wide night" is written by @sarvathasin . a story divided into 3 books, of Malik sisters that they are unique and are different. TBH i didn't find them different and unique at all. Jimmy the narrator of the story as well as a neighbour to Malik sisters. the story seemed more about Jimmy than the Malik sisters, Jimmy narrates everything about Malik sisters who are Mariya,Bina, ash and Leila. Jimmy gets obsessed with each sister one by one which is quite weird, he defines beauty of and quality of each sister in detail throughout the story which makes the reader confused about Jimmy that "he's obsessed with whom basically?" xD.
💜 The book has good story but it was a bit confusing at the same time regarding the dialogues,the author didn't mention well which dialogue is delivered by whom and the reader has to go under struggle to understand the dialogue delivered by which character, apart from this a lot of errors which words and sentences ( bad editing).
💜there were a lot of characters and each of them were interesting but none of them were a main or more highlighted character for me. Story was going well with a good flow but didn't like the ending at all (not a fine finish).
💜Story was set in Karachi in 1970s, which author failed to reflect the era of 1970s. karachites might enjoy it a bit more as a lot of Karachi traditions and foods were discussed. overall the story was more about modern women in a conservative society according to the setting, than different women. because i didn't find the sisters different at all but you could say they were modern specially Ash who was rebellious and more like a Tom boy compared to other sisters. Good story but was lacking some flow.
💜 "This wide night" is written by @sarvathasin . a story divided into 3 books, of Malik sisters that they are unique and are different. TBH i didn't find them different and unique at all. Jimmy the narrator of the story as well as a neighbour to Malik sisters. the story seemed more about Jimmy than the Malik sisters, Jimmy narrates everything about Malik sisters who are Mariya,Bina, ash and Leila. Jimmy gets obsessed with each sister one by one which is quite weird, he defines beauty of and quality of each sister in detail throughout the story which makes the reader confused about Jimmy that "he's obsessed with whom basically?" xD.
💜 The book has good story but it was a bit confusing at the same time regarding the dialogues,the author didn't mention well which dialogue is delivered by whom and the reader has to go under struggle to understand the dialogue delivered by which character, apart from this a lot of errors which words and sentences ( bad editing).
💜there were a lot of characters and each of them were interesting but none of them were a main or more highlighted character for me. Story was going well with a good flow but didn't like the ending at all (not a fine finish).
💜Story was set in Karachi in 1970s, which author failed to reflect the era of 1970s. karachites might enjoy it a bit more as a lot of Karachi traditions and foods were discussed. overall the story was more about modern women in a conservative society according to the setting, than different women. because i didn't find the sisters different at all but you could say they were modern specially Ash who was rebellious and more like a Tom boy compared to other sisters. Good story but was lacking some flow.
Read
October 20, 2020I bought this book after being blown away by Sarvat Hasin's story in the anthology Outsiders, called The Lady Is Not for Burning. Although it might seem odd to say I enjoyed a short story more than a novel, I think that between the time This Wide Night was published and Outsiders was published, Hasin found her stride more as an author. So while This Wide Night was not amazing for me, the potential here combined with the skill displayed in The Lady Is Not for Burning means I'm incredibly excited for Hasin's next full-length work coming out next year with Dialogue!
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Usually when a blurb claims a book is influenced by x y and z or is the next x y or z, I'm sceptical. This Wide Night is touted as The Virgin Suicides meets Little Women, but set in Karachi, Pakistan and actually those influences are more than visible... maybe too visible. I also had the same issue I had with The Virgin Suicides - I'd have much rather read the story from the perspective of one of the sisters, rather than the male narrator of both that book and This Wide Night. I get that the point is we never get close to the sisters, they remain enigmatic... But it's just down to personal narrator preference. The Little Women similarities were clear too, but I spent a lot of reading time going 'oh, there's another reference!' that the book lost a bit of its own identity.
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But! Hasin's style is very readable, and the story gets stronger as it goes on, culminating in an ending that I absolutely loved. I wanted more of the darkness and unease that Hasin displayed in her short story, and by the ending of This Wide Night she had delivered. The mysterious ending will definitely stick with me!
.
Usually when a blurb claims a book is influenced by x y and z or is the next x y or z, I'm sceptical. This Wide Night is touted as The Virgin Suicides meets Little Women, but set in Karachi, Pakistan and actually those influences are more than visible... maybe too visible. I also had the same issue I had with The Virgin Suicides - I'd have much rather read the story from the perspective of one of the sisters, rather than the male narrator of both that book and This Wide Night. I get that the point is we never get close to the sisters, they remain enigmatic... But it's just down to personal narrator preference. The Little Women similarities were clear too, but I spent a lot of reading time going 'oh, there's another reference!' that the book lost a bit of its own identity.
.
But! Hasin's style is very readable, and the story gets stronger as it goes on, culminating in an ending that I absolutely loved. I wanted more of the darkness and unease that Hasin displayed in her short story, and by the ending of This Wide Night she had delivered. The mysterious ending will definitely stick with me!
June 23, 2019
Hello it’s the weekend and I read probably one of my favourite fiction books ever this week so I’m going to try and tell you about it in a relatively restrained way but please know I’m just screaming at you to buy This Wide Night.
Set in Karachi in the 1970s, this is the story of the Malik sisters — Ash, Maria, Leila and Bina — told through the eyes of their adoring neighbour, Jimmy. Yes, this is a Little Women retelling, but it is also so much more.
This Wide Night is split into three books, and as the second part progresses you start to notice deviations from Alcott’s original storyline, little changes that accumulate. A sense of unease builds. I won’t say any more because going in fresh, like I was, makes for a wild ride.
If you liked The Water Cure, Virgin Suicides, The Girls, Ponti (three books I consider essential reading), then you will find much to like in This Wide Night, which is at heart a story of sisters, love, and grief. It is rich, lyrical and draws you in and drags you under without you noticing.⠀
If you wanted a Little Women retelling with an all POC cast and new setting, This Wide Night is the book you should pick up. I’ll be waiting in the DMs to discuss when you’re finished.
Set in Karachi in the 1970s, this is the story of the Malik sisters — Ash, Maria, Leila and Bina — told through the eyes of their adoring neighbour, Jimmy. Yes, this is a Little Women retelling, but it is also so much more.
This Wide Night is split into three books, and as the second part progresses you start to notice deviations from Alcott’s original storyline, little changes that accumulate. A sense of unease builds. I won’t say any more because going in fresh, like I was, makes for a wild ride.
If you liked The Water Cure, Virgin Suicides, The Girls, Ponti (three books I consider essential reading), then you will find much to like in This Wide Night, which is at heart a story of sisters, love, and grief. It is rich, lyrical and draws you in and drags you under without you noticing.⠀
If you wanted a Little Women retelling with an all POC cast and new setting, This Wide Night is the book you should pick up. I’ll be waiting in the DMs to discuss when you’re finished.
October 13, 2018
I struggled to finish the book and didn’t really understand any of the characters. The book just didn’t work for me. If you’re a third of the way through and it’s not doing it for you, I’d recommend cutting your losses and moving on to another book. However, it’s well written in the sense that the writing is thoughtful in parts. There are lines from the book, mostly descriptions of emotions, that show that Hasin thinks deeply and carefully about her work. I preferred her second book to this one.
February 21, 2018
I liked the story as being a Karachite can relate to some many details, yet there was something missing. I had a craving of more details and descriptions of characters. There was so much that the author has left to reader's imagination. In a way its a good technique. The story moved on a very quick pace, never losing it's reader's interest. Ending was also very unpredictable.
June 19, 2024
A haunting read. A book that made me feel like I was laying on a bed, buried under a woollen blanket on a rainy Tuesday morning. Safe, warm and gloomy. Interesting narrative that had the potential to be extraordinary but somehow fell short. Yet, it remains a lovely read about unlikely relationships and the unshakeable and quite complicated bond of sisterhood.
August 24, 2017
What an amazing novel! Kudos to the writer for grasping the reader throughout with a very important underlining message of the lives of "modern" women in a conservative society, the book lets us look into their lives from not only their own perspective but also a third angle.
June 3, 2023
A winding and lyrical story about four unconventional sisters living in 1970s Karachi. It's slow and sad and melancholic and exactly my type of thing.
October 29, 2021
If anyone wants to read a Pakistani version of Little women with tha Laurie narrating the story this book is for you....
April 18, 2017
Imagine Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy transported to Karachi in the 60s-70s, padding around in kurtas, reading mounds and mounds of books, swarming around much-beloved mother while an on-the-fringes Laurie completes the picture. The details are intimate, weaving through the trajectories of personal equations, the turmoil of externalities mentioned only in passing. A rather satisfying read overall, with just a hint of spookiness.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews