Book Review: The Khan by Saima Mir

This is such a difficult book to review. I read it a few weeks ago and decided to let it sit with me for a while before writing my review ... I'm still digesting and that is testament to the power of The Khan (the novel not the character).  But here goes - here's my take on this great novel without hopefully giving away any plot spoilers. But first the blurb ...

The Khan

Be twice as good as men and four times as good as white men.
 
Jia Khan has always lived like this. 
 
A successful lawyer, her London life is a long way from the grubby Northern streets she knew as a child, where her father headed up the Pakistani community and ran the local organised crime syndicate. Often his Jirga rule – the old way – was violent and bloody, but it was always justice of a kind.  
 
But now her father, Akbar Khan, has been murdered and Jia must return to take his place. In the past, the police relied on him to maintain the fragile order of the streets. But a power struggle has broken out amongst the various communities and now, nobody is safe. 

Justice needs to be restored, and Jia is about to discover that justice always comes at a price.

My Thoughts 

Available here

This is a no holds barred narrative that allows Muslim voices to be heard in a way rarely
seen before. It doesn't shy away from themes around drugs, power, corruption, the role of women, gangs and survival from the point of view of Jia Khan - the eldest daughter of the current Khan. 

Jia is an enigma to me . She's turned her back on her family and their northern lifestyle to move away to become a lawyer in London. But, Mir, in a series of twists that left me breathless exposes secrets and events that make everything I'd previously believed about the narrative redundant. Jia herself is unlikeable - but that unlikeability serves to make her more real and it certainly kept me entranced. Her coldness served its purpose in keeping a distance between Jia and the other characters - those she loves and who love her and also the reader, who has yet to come to a decision about her. 

This is a well written, thoughtful and authentic story that will remain in my thoughts for a long time. More please. 

About the author

Saima Mir has written for The Times, Guardian and Independent. Her essay for It's Not About The Burqa (Picador) appeared in Guardian Weekend and received over 250,000 hits online in two days. She has also contributed to the anthology The Best, Most Awful Job: Twenty Mothers Talk Honestly About Motherhood. Saima grew up in Bradford and now lives in London.