Hunger by Tanzeela K. Hassan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
HUNGER is a debut novel by Tanzeela K. Hasan and has been on my to read list since its release. Recently I got a chance to attend the book launch of her latest novel and buy both the books with autographs from the author (I love getting autographed stuff).
We all experience some sort of Hunger throughout our lives. For some it is a Hunger for power, for some it is Hunger for love and for some it is Hunger for all things materialistic and for some it is Hunger for knowledge. There are also people who Hunger to know their place in the world, to know the Higher power, to achieve a level of spirituality very few have achieved. It is a craving that some understand and most do not but it is there. Same is the case with our characters in this story.
Hunger is about Adam Lyons, an architect living a successful life in New York. He has everything he needs, is an ambitious but arrogant aloof person who is just living and earning for himself. As a kid he was always curious about his mother and her family but his father never said a word about them till he finally gave up asking. Two years ago his father passed away and he again wondered what his life would have been like if his mother had lived and not died when he was born. He feels an emptiness inside him, an ache as if something is missing and then his world turns upside down. Adam finds out his maternal grandmother is alive, lives in Pakistan, is a Muslim and has been writing to his father for years to let her meet him. Unable to manage the emotional upheaval he feels at knowing this, he messes up at work and is let go off. With nothing left to lose, Adam decides to visit her and maybe find what was missing in his life. The never ending hunger to know his maternal family.
On the other side of the east river, nearby, lives Iman, a simple Pakistani woman who moved to New York to be with her husband. She feels incredibly lonely due to having no friends or family and receiving no attention from her husband she craves. Despite this, she tries to keep positive and mend her marriage in anyway she can. Then suddenly things take a turn for the worse when she finds out about her husband’s activities and has to face the repercussions of it. Forced to embark on a journey she was neither wanted nor was ready for, Iman crosses paths with Adam.
Then there is Max. A complicated man with a traumatic childhood who grows up with a Hunger to let the world know what happiness is and to let people live in freedom. A belief that what he did was for the betterment and freedom of the people he killed. Will these three finally get to satisfy their Hunger or continue to crave what they do not know they seek?
I absolutely love Ms. Hasan’s descriptions of the places and the surroundings that I can visualise as I read. And while I have visited Pakistan’s North and seen the stunning beauty and peace firsthand, I do want to know if the castle of Adam’s grandmother actually exists and if I can visit it too and stay there. The suspense of who Max is and if there is any connection between him and the other characters or not is gripping and so is finding out what exactly was Iman’s husband involved in and about Adam’s parents past. Why his father hid so much about his mother, her family and her faith.
What was a let down for me in Hunger was the pace of the story and dialogues. I feel Hunger could have been a longer novel. The ending few chapters seemed rushed. I want to know what happened in between and how? I want to see more of the journey, the connection developed between Iman and Adam. I loved the side characters of Adam’s grandmother and Mujahid and the friendship that developed between them. Iman’s development, on the other hand, was not given enough attention which was a slight disappointment.
It is also refreshing to see how the author has incorporated our beliefs and values in the story. We may read a lot about other faiths in books but rarely ever about islam and without glossing it over so people won’t feel offended. On the other hand, I also felt lots of things seemed rushed and a person who didn’t know even the basics about these things like Adam might feel confused about the progression of things. While some instances are described beautifully, others things seem vague and left me wanting more.
All in all, I believe Hunger is an excellent start to Tanzeela K. Hasan’s journey as an author. She has the potential to make us feel the world she has created and feel the characters struggle with right and wrong. Hunger is especially recommended for all those who wish to read a clean suspense novel with a refreshing point of view, experience a spiritual journey and learn about one of the most infamous countries, its people and their religion.
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