Home Fire

After her mother and grandmother died, responsibility for her brother and sister fell on the shoulders of the eldest Isma. She pushed aside her own dreams, forgot her ambitions, and devoted herself to Anika and Parviz. Now they’ve grown up, and each has gone their own way. Isma is free and ready to return to her university career. But worry for her brother and sister hasn’t disappeared. Anika is impulsive and far too beautiful. And Parviz chose the dark path—he vanished into the mist of the Middle East, hoping to understand their father, the jihadist.

In front of Isma, Anika, Parviz, and the other heroes of the novel, lies the hardest choice from which they can’t escape. What is stronger: blood ties or the bonds of love? What matters more: mercy or loyalty to the law?

Camila Shamsi’s novel is a modern version of Sophocles’ “Antigone.” The ancient tragedy unfolds in the setting of today’s world, but the power of human feelings hasn’t weakened since Sophocles’ time. In 2017, the book was nominated for the Booker Prize, and in 2018 it won the Women’s Prize for Fiction.