Another Gulmohar Tree

‘Aamer Hussein is doing something quite original in his fiction. He explores the meetings of cultures, but he is no sociologist. He fuses elements of folk tales and mythology into his work, but is not a magic realist. His characters live human lives, both creatures of their societies and individual men and women who love and work, marry and raise children, highly conscious of their hopes and limitations. At the end of this book, in the almost Tolstoyan portrait of the family gathered together, Aamer Hussein shows that he has the rare gift of expressing enduring and radiant happiness.’ William Palmer, Independent

‘Another Gulmohar Tree offers an exploration of life and love but rersists reassuring solutions. Just as Usman dislikes the younger poets who write optimistically about Pakistan’s ‘New Dawn and the Blessed Golden Soil of the Promised land’,so Hussein refuses to indulge in sentimental narratives of the individual or nation. We do however glimpse some light. Hussein encourages us to reflect on what belonging might really mean. Through Lydia, we learn that the enchanting gulmohar tree is not native to Pakistan, but is ‘a transplant’ from Madagascar. Usman becomes aware that he has ceased to notice both its glittering scarlet blossom in his garden and the laughter and love of his wife. He recalls the words of the great Urdu poet, Mirza Ghalib: ‘The vision of a flower teaches the eye to rejoice in every colour’. Readers of Hussein’s precise prose in this quietly melancholy novel will be similarly rewarded.’ Lara Pawson, TLS

‘The Gulmohar or ‘flame-coin’ tree appears rooted in the soil of the Indian subcontinent. It is in fact a transplant, making it the perfect symbol for this tale about an Anglo-Asian marriage spanning decades and continents. Framed in distilled prose, this is a moving fable about the slow and sometimes starling growth of love. A slender delight.’ —Adrian Turpin, Financial Times

“The Gulmohar or ‘flame-coin’ tree appears rooted in the soil of the Indian subcontinent. It is in fact a transplant, making it the perfect symbol for this tale about an Anglo-Asian marriage spanning decades and continents. Framed in distilled prose, this is a moving fable about the slow and sometimes starling growth of love. A slender delight.” –Adrian Turpin, Financial Times

“Another Gulmohar Tree offers an exploration of life and love but rersists reassuring solutions. Just as Usman dislikes the younger poets who write optimistically about Pakistan’s ‘New Dawn and the Blessed Golden Soil of the Promised land’,so Hussein refuses to indulge in sentimental narratives of the individual or nation. We do however glimpse some light. Hussein encourages us to reflect on what belonging might really mean. Through Lydia, we learn that the enchanting gulmohar tree is not native to Pakistan, but is ‘a transplant’ from Madagascar. Usman becomes aware that he has ceased to notice both its glittering scarlet blossom in his garden and the laughter and love of his wife. He recalls the words of the great Urdu poet, Mirza Ghalib: ‘The vision of a flower teaches the eye to rejoice in every colour’. Readers of Hussein’s precise prose in this quietly melancholy novel will be similarly rewarded.” –Lara Pawson, TLS