Maps for Lost Lovers - book review

author  Nadeem Aslam

This is another book about expats living in England.  The characters are originally from Pakistan and are Moslem (some more religious, some less religious).

The book is complicated... life is complicated.

There are so MANY themes touched on - they do make quite an interwoven pattern.  Religion (Hindu, Sikh and Moslem), racism, love and death, breaking the "rules", sex, avoidance of sex, marriage and abuse.

What struck me the most was the language - it was florid - full of sensual description, full of simile and metaphor, descriptions in terms of flowers, perfumes, textures, tastes, weather...and allusions to fables and poetry from Pakistan's long literary tradition.

I wonder if this author was trying to give Western readers an idea of what Eastern literature might be like with all the meandering story lines and colorful writing.