Pakistani Author Published
in America
A
Pakistani writer, Ayesha Ijaz Khan, has written a novel
about the Pakistani expatriate community in America. Rodeo
Drive to Raja Bazaar has now been released and is available
for sale through Amazon, etc.
Spanning a decade (1994-2004), Rodeo Drive to Raja Bazaar
is a social and political portrait of contemporary Pakistan
and its immigrant population in America. With its mixture
of the rich, poor and middle classes, democracy interspersed
with military rule, liberals facing off with conservatives,
and increasing interplay of religion, the novel is at once
humorous, thought-provoking, and an easy read for all ages.
Natasha is ten years old when her parents take her back
to Islamabad. Born and bred in Los Angeles, she is less
than keen on the move. Slowly she assimilates, guided by
a grandmother who is determined to transform her and discovering
the customary traditions through funerals and weddings.
When an early marriage presents the opportunity to move
back to the land of her birth, however, Natasha jumps at
it, only to be disappointed by the less than favorable treatment
of Muslims she witnesses in post-9/11 America.
Ayesha Ijaz Khan was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan and educated
variously at American schools in Saudi Arabia and Islamabad.
She did her bachelors degree from The College of William
& Mary and earned her Juris Doctor degree from UCLA
School of Law. She is a lawyer by profession and currently
lives in London, England with her husband.
The novel has been published by Maryland-based Publish America
and can be purchased from on-line bookstores such as amazon.com,
barnesandnoble.com, or ordered through brick and mortar
stores all over the United States. The retail price is $19.95.
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