{"title":"Vassanji Mg","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"uhuru-street-book-vassanji-mg-9780771087264","title":"Uhuru Street","description":"By the two-time winner of the Giller Prize for his novels\u0026gt;\u003ci\u003eThe Book of Secrets\u003c\/i\u003e and\u0026gt;\u003ci\u003eThe In-Between World of Vikram Lall\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eUhuru Street\u003c\/i\u003e is M.G. Vassanji's stunning book of linked stories, set within the Asian community of Dar es Salaam. With delicate strokes, and with irony and humour, Vassanji brings alive the characters who live and work in the shops and tenements of Uhuru Street; among them: Roshan Mattress, so called because of her free and easy ways; a street-wise orphan fighting for survival; a Goan dressmaker who entertains her employers with local gossip; and a servant who opens up the world for the children in his charge, until he oversteps his bounds and has to leave. As the younger generation searches for a new destiny, and the older fiercely holds on to the past, Uhuru Street\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eresonates with the moment of moving on, of leaving the place where we have roots, knowing that things will never be the same.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49603754328337,"sku":"GOR013477264","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50365252731153,"sku":"CIN0771087268G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51329336410385,"sku":"CIN0771087268VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":52602316194065,"sku":"CIN0771087268A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0771087268.jpg?v=1751263906"},{"product_id":"the-book-of-secrets-book-vassanji-mg-9780771087219","title":"The Book of Secrets","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Book of Secrets\u0026gt;\u003c\/i\u003eis a spellbinding novel of generations and the sweep of history that begins in 1988 in Dar es Salaam, when the 1913 diary of a British colonial officer is found in a shopkeeper's back room. The diary enflames the curiosity of a retired schoolteacher, Pius Fernandes, whose obsession with the stories it contains gradually connects the past with the present. Inhabiting the story is a memorable cast of characters, part of an Asian community in East Africa, whose lives and fates we follow over the course of seven decades. Rich in detail and description, M. G. Vassanji's award-winning novel magnificently conjures setting and the realm of eras past as it explores the state of living in exile from one's home and from oneself.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49886681858321,"sku":"GOR008470427","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50483696599313,"sku":"CIN0771087217G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0771087217.jpg?v=1751138647"},{"product_id":"when-she-was-queen-book-m-vassanji-9780385661768","title":"When She Was Queen","description":"My father lost my mother one evening in a final round of gambling at the poker table, writes the narrator of When She Was Queen, the title story of a new collection by bestselling novelist and two-time winner of the Giller Prize, M.G. Vassanji. That fateful evening in Kenya becomes the obsessive and dark centre of the young man's existence and leads him, years later in Toronto, to unearth an even darker family secret. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn The Girl With The Bicycle, a man witnesses a woman from his hometown of Dar es Salaam spit at a corpse as it lies in state at a Toronto mosque. As he struggles to fathom her strange behaviour, he finds himself prey to memories and images from the past-and to perilous yearnings that could jeopardize his comfortable, middle-aged life. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eStill reeling from the impact of his wife's betrayal, a man decides to stop in on an old college friend in Elvis, Raja. But he soon realizes that it's not always wise to visit the past as he finds himself trapped in a most curious household, where Elvis Presley has replaced the traditional Hindu gods. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe other stories in the collection also feature exceptional lives transplanted. A young man returns to his roots in India, hoping to find his uncle and, perhaps, a bride. Instead, he becomes a reluctant guru to the residents of his ancestral village. A mukhi must choose between granting the final sacrilegious wish of a dying man and abiding by religious custom in a community that considers him a representative of God. A woman is torn between the voice of her dead husband-a cold and grim-natured atheist-and her new, kind and loving husband whose faith nevertheless places constraints on her as a woman. On Halloween night, a scientist lays bare his horrifying plan to seek vengeance on the man who thwarted his career. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSet variously in Kenya, Canada, India, Pakistan, and the American Midwest, these poignant and evocative stories portray migrants negotiating the in-between worlds of east and west, past and present, secular and religious. Richly detailed and full of vivid characters, the stories are worlds unto themselves, just as a dusty African street full of bustling shops is a world, and so is the small matrix of lives enclosed by an intimate Toronto neighbourhood. It is the smells and sentiments and small gestures that constitute life, and of these Vassanji is a master. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eVassanji's seventh book and his second collection of short stories, \u003cb\u003eWhen She Was Queen \u003c\/b\u003ewas shortlisted for the 2006 Toronto Book Award. The jury said: Vassanji's Naipaulian language is like a sharp short knife that cuts through the superficial and gets to the heart and soul of the narrative. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eFrom the Hardcover edition.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50028139446545,"sku":"GOR010596918","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0385661762.jpg?v=1751196412"},{"product_id":"a-delhi-obsession-a-novel-book-vassanji-mg-9780385692854","title":"A Delhi Obsession: A Novel","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eTwo-time Giller Prize winner M.G. Vassanji returns with a powerful new novel about grief and second chances, tradition and rebellion, set in vibrant present-day Delhi.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMunir Khan, a recent widower from Toronto, on a whim decides to visit Delhi, the city of his forbears. Born in Kenya, he has lost all family connections, and has never visited India before. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhile sitting in the bar of the Delhi Recreational Club where he's staying, an attractive woman joins his table to await her husband. A sparring match ensues. The two are from different worlds: Munir is a westernized agnostic of Muslim origin; Mohini, a modern Hindu woman. Utterly witty and charming, she's religiously traditional, but also a liberal and provocative newspaper columnist. Against her better judgment, Mohini agrees to show Munir around the city. As they explore the thriving markets and historical buildings of Old Delhi, an inexplicable attraction begins. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhat follows is a passionate love affair--uncontrollable yet impossible. This is a period of rising Indian nationalism in modern India that at times finds outlet in senseless violence. Constantly lurking at Munir's Club is the menacing and foreboding presence of a fanatical nationalist group. To them Munir Khan is simply a Muslim love-jihadi who has led the pride of Hindu womanhood, Mohini Singh, astray. At what cost, their passion?","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50130604458257,"sku":"CIN0385692854G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52815809511697,"sku":"CIN0385692854VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0385692854.jpg?v=1751228922"},{"product_id":"the-assassin-s-song-book-vassanji-mg-9780385663519","title":"The Assassin's Song","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50466291056913,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50466291974417,"sku":"CIN038566351XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53233420239121,"sku":"GOR007275485","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53234691539217,"sku":"GOR014820636","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53557546221841,"sku":"CIN038566351XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/038566351X.jpg?v=1751165932"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-vassanji-mg.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}