A Splintering: A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick
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By Dur e Aziz Amna
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1 review
‘Smart and gripping – I read it in one sitting. Tara is a glorious creation, crackling with life and aspiration and sensuality’ Kamila Shamsie, author of Home Fire
WINNER OF THE STANFORDS FICTION AWARD 2026
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NOTA BENE PRIZE 2026
An unforgettable story of motherhood, obsession and ambition
In a village in rural Pakistan, Tara is waiting and watching. The smell of dung and dust hangs over her world. She is desperate to leave the petty life of the village and escape the iron grip of her violent, unpredictable brother. Marrying a middle-class accountant allows her to escape to the capital, but she soon finds that life as a respectable housewife is not sufficient either. She wants what the rich mothers at her children’s school have. She wants what their husbands have. But can she truly shake her past? And what of the menacing spectre of her brother, a reminder of the threads that tie her to the life she left behind?
Set against a hypnotic, oppressive backdrop of political violence and natural disaster, A Splintering traces the class struggle of a woman stuck between province and metropolis, between motherhood and ambition. Disquieting and utterly gripping, it is an extraordinary achievement by Dur e Aziz Amna, an exploration of a complex and unforgettable character who will risk everything to carve out a life of her own.
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What a great narrator! If you like a strong, ruthless and fiercely ambitious protagonist you'll love Tara. A Splintering is a great story with great characters told in a very readable style. Learned lots about Pakistan and the oppressive patriarchal system but also about class as the narrator battles her way from a poor village to a very comfortable city life. But not without a huge price to pay....
