Kamila Shamsie is indubitably the most eloquent and perhaps one of the most talented among the young breed of writers from Pakistan who write in English. Shamsie's growth as a writer has been an accretion of sorts, over the years it took her to write six novels, unlike writers who appear on the literary scene fully formed with their first offering at the pinnacle of their literary prowess – particular cases are Jamil Ahmad, Arundhati Roy, and Daniyal Mueenuddin from her own generation. Readers familiar with her work will find a remarkable transformation from the writer who wrote In the City by the Sea, her first novel, to her latest A God in Every Stone, which shows the kind of self-assuredness and ingenuity which won her a place on Granta's list of Best Young British novelists of 2014. Strictly in terms of numbers too she is ahead of the handful of authors who have brought Pakistani writing in English into greater notice in the world of English letters.
I met up with her at the Bloomsbury offices of her publishers in June 2014 and was struck by her candour, intelligence, humour – and sharp tongue.
Nauman Khalid: "Female in manners but male in intellect" in the beginning, and much later in the book (A God in Every Stone): "She was a spinster nearing forty… but joining one's life to any of them (suitors) in perpetuity always seemed to entail more loss than gain." Wouldn't you say all this is very tantalising? How much of Vivian Rose Spencer is you and vice versa? What are the similarities and differences between Viv and yourself?
Kamila Shamsie: "Male in intellect" – what exactly does that mean? And 'spinster'? Really, Nauman! In the year 2014, you think this is a word that can be used without a giant eye roll and air quotes accompanying it? The quotes you've chosen were very deliberately placed in the book to reveal the deeply patriarchal mindset of the world Viv lives in. I don't know whether to be amused or appalled that you read them instead as a 'tantalising' possible echo of my life.