In the Company of Strangers

In The Company Of Strangers is set within the glittering elite social circles of Lahore where being invited to the right parties and being seen with the right people seem to be all that matters. However in this novel Khan swiftly takes us behind that facade. The first chapter is a shocking description of a young suicide bomber walking to a predetermined location and blowing himself up - together with everyone else in the vicinity. It's an immensely powerful start which led me to expect a certain style of novel. Khan doesn't allow himself to be channelled into any one direction though. Instead he allows us glimpses into a number of different lives, all of which will be affected by the repercussions of that initial violence.

I think what I loved the most was Khan's sharply observed character portrayals. I'm struggling to think of a single participant whom I actually liked because they are generally quite self-serving and can be incredibly spiteful to each other! Reading their barbed comments and conversations from this distance was entertaining and a good counterpoint to the several dark narrative threads which include terrorism, domestic abuse and sexual assault. Mona is a strange creation. I understand that I should have empathised with her predicament, but I found this difficult to do.

I felt I preferred the first half of In The Company Of Strangers because it is more detailed about Lahore and its inhabitants. Once the pace picks up in the latter chapters, I wasn't always sure I could follow people's motivations and I did wonder if Khan was throwing in too many emotional triggers to be completely believable. That aside, this is an enjoyable novel which manages to explore difficult themes in an interesting and exciting story.