Blurb

Zohaib, Misha and Nadia believed they would be in each other’s lives forever. As children they played, argued, teased and loved one another. Yet nothing could have prepared them for the tragic turn of events one fateful afternoon in Karachi, Pakistan, when the divisions and differences between them are revealed.

Years later and they are still trying to piece their lives back together, still trying to make sense of what happened. Zohaib is living in London, haunted by the ghosts of the past. Nadia has escaped the household where she first met Misha and Zohaib but finds fate delivering her back to their door…

The Idle Stance of the Tippler Pigeon is a beautifully rendered portrait of love, healing, and long-buried pain, digging deep into the nature of trauma and class division.

Review

I was intrigued by the title of this book, and it engaged me enough to want to read and review it, despite it not being my usual type of read. I am very glad I made that decision. Without spoilers, the title is part of something the father of Misha and Zohaib says to them when they are children, and relates perfectly to the character arcs of both Nadia and Zohaib.

It took me a few chapters to get my head round the format and story, by then I didn’t want to put it down.

Dealing with family, friendship, love, loss, grief and class, this story of the long lasting effects of a childhood trauma, told from multiple perspectives, will stay with me.

The story unfolds mainly via the three main characters, Nadia, Misha and Zohaib, and is set both in the present and 17 years earlier, when Nadia and Misha are about 8. These are interspersed with chapters from the point of view of several other family members which add effectively to the narrative.

We do not find out exactly what happened until the end of the book, but hints are drip fed throughout, whilst we hear about how the event affected those involved as they dealt with it…or not, in some cases.

Despite the themes of poverty vs privilege, domestic violence, mysogyny, grief and mental health issues, there is hope in this story.

The ending (not the reveal of the childhood trauma event, but where the characters are in their lives and relationships) leaves the reader with a lot to contemplate. It is not what I expected but is reflective of reality, in my opinion.

Thank you to Neem Tree Press and @The_WriteReads for a copy of the book for me to review as part of this blog tour.