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February 15, 2021
Sexuality and class intersect in this collection of short stories set in Pakistan. The characters in Sethi's debut struggle with their individuality because of the straightjacket imposed by conventional society. In "Mini Apple," Javed, a divorced television star, engages in a passionate affair with an American official only to find that he inconveniently develops feelings for her. In "Breezy Blessings," up-and-coming actress Mehak Ahmed comes to terms with the limits of moving ahead on talent alone. She realizes she needs to wield her sexuality as a commodity if she wants to play more than the role of "lead's sister" for the rest of her life. The stories are especially striking for their portrayal of hidden homosexuality. While Roshan, Mehak's on-site assistant, must depend on the whims of his boss for his secret to remain safe, the rich have better means. In "Tomboy," one of the more touching stories, childhood friends Zarrar and Asha, who are both closeted, marry each other to deliver the pretense that they're straight. Each understands that it's a marriage of convenience. In "A Life of Its Own," the young newlyweds Farah and Kashif, who stay in Pakistan to help their aging parents rather than move to the U.S. for their careers, find that the harsh realities of life in small-town Pakistan can be softened with money. Class shows up again in the title story when upper-class Soni indulges in an affair with a boorish, married older man. While Sethi's descriptions--"the gray in Asher's hair became a mischievous afterthought, like a snaggletooth on a beautiful woman: the succumbing, teasing quirk of a faultless mold"--are punchy and the stories raw, they tread worn ground. There are not many novel insights to be garnered here. Biting and incisive stories that successfully walk the fine line between boldness and sensationalism.

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March 1, 2021
Sethi showcases her literary lineage as the daughter of internationally renowned, award-winning journalists Najam Sethi and Jugnu Mohsin, and the younger sister of lauded author and musician Ali Sethi. Already an established actor and journalist, Sethi makes her fiction debut with six partially interlinked stories set in her native Pakistan, each confronting various power dynamics. In "Mini Apple," a recently divorced actor-turned-television-journalist has an affair with his across-the-street neighbor, a U.S.-disdaining, albeit U.S. diplomat. In "A Man for His Time," a struggling college student--and his family, by association--is manipulated by religious radicals. The discussion of a village incident in "A Man" links back to "A Life of Its Own--Part One," in which a prominent family--the father a member of parliament, his wife "the real voice of the people"--face the repercussions of a relative's poor decisions. The family returns in "A Life of Its Own--Part Two" when the wife decides to claim her rightful place of public leadership. Gender inequity gets challenged in "Breezy Blessings," a tale about an actress cut from a TV show, "Tomboy," about childhood best friends expected to marry as adults, and in the titular story, which features a doomed relationship between a 27-year-old dilettante and a two-decades-older, married-with-young-kids, former squash champion. With #OwnVoices nuance and precision, Sethi both exposes and enthralls.

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