The Story Of A Widow ; Musharraf Ali Farooqi ; Picador India; 2009
Pages: 249 ; Price: Rs 495
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Praising this book, Pakistani author Mohammed Hanif writes: “If Jane Austen had grown up in a Karachi suburb, this is what she would have written.” And nothing could possibly better describe Musharraf Ali Farooqi’s The Story Of A Widow (Picador). Mona Akbar Ahmed, 50, loses her husband. Now free from the daily arduous schedule she followed while her husband was alive, Mona rediscovers, among other things, her long-lost love for gardening. She also discovers that her tight-fisted husband Akbar Ahmed had left behind plenty of money, and is slightly disturbed that she never got a whiff of it while he was alive.
Enters Salamat Ali, the 50-something tenant of Mrs Baig, Mona’s neighbour. What begins with a candid gift of rose plants turns into a relationship that Mona realises she never experienced with Akbar Ahmed. With sufficient support from Mrs Baig and Hina, Mona’s sister, the duo marries. There is opposition from various quarters — Mona’s daughters worry about their reputation, her uncle Sajid Mir is exasperated and, then, there is Umar Shafi who still hopes to win over Mona. Ali makes attempts to fit in, and all’s well until Mona starts lending out money to her new husband. Bit by bit, she discovers his many vices.
Despite the soap-opera slant towards the end, with equal doses of humour and heartbreak, the book is a speed read. Farooqi’s writing is best in parts where he describes various moods of Mona in her state of widowhood.
This review was published in the Businessworld Issue Dated 5-11 May 2009
Book Reviews 
The Story Of A Widow ; Musharraf Ali Farooqi ; Picador India; 2009
