Books by Zain Saeed
“Little America is by Zain Saeed. It’s about a young man who wants to create a little America in Pakistan because he feels that there isn’t enough freedom in Pakistan to do whatever you want. Whatever you wear, whomever you love, there are too many restrictions, so he decides to build something up with a friend of his. Initially, he lends people a car—it’s like a hidden date because they can’t be seen in a restaurant. Then he meets this other rich guy and he builds up a Pentagon-style area near the beach and calls it Little America. I just liked the concept of how Saeed deals with freedom of choice. Even though we’re meant to be a democratic country, there are a lot of things that we don’t do because society and culture don’t allow us to. The young people here think that you can escape to the US or to the UK—or, now, to Canada or Australia—and have the life of your dreams, so this man tries to build something like that, in a compound here in Pakistan.” Read more...
Safinah Danish Elahi, Novelist
Interviews where books by Zain Saeed were recommended
The Best Novels from Pakistan, recommended by Safinah Danish Elahi
Over the past five years, Pakistani novels have become much more focused on people’s lived experience in Pakistan—rather than just catering to the expectations of an international audience, argues novelist, lawyer and publisher Safinah Danish Elahi. She picks five of her favorite novels from Pakistan, four of them published very recently.
