Highlights of Jim Bartley’s Globe and Mail review:
“Farzana Doctor’s first novel offers a study in linked solitudes and secrets. Shaffiq Paperwala is an educated young man from India who, lacking a Canadian degree, is relegated to janitorial work in a Toronto psychiatric hospital. Nasreen Bastawala, a psychologist in the hospital, encounters him at the end of each work day as he begins his shift…What has stayed with me are the unerring interior dramas: Shaffiq despairing for his family’s future; Nasreen, in a trance of sadness, hovering near the edge of a subway platform; Salma thinking with sweet regret of Raj, her lost Mumbai lover.” August 11, 2007. more
Highlights of Susan G. Cole’s NOW review:”There’s an awful lot going on in Farzana Doctor’s fascinating first novel, Stealing Nasreen. Touching on themes of grief, desire and assimilation, Doctor lays out an ambitious array of characters and dilemmas and, for the most part, pulls them together with admirable skill…A terrific touch comes via an erotically tinged painting of a rani and her servant that hangs in their home. The rani’s expression seems to change depending on whether she’s expressing amusement or disdain for the secrets the two must conceal…you can tell from reading Stealing Nasreen that the author knows a lot about life. This unique contribution to CanLit probes the problems and joys of creating an open, diverse society.” NOW | JUNE 7 – 13, 2007 | VOL. 26 NO. 40 more
Highlights of Tara Lee’s Quill and Quire Review:”The process of leaving one’s country and finding a sense of belonging in another is often rife with uncertainty and turmoil. What makes Stealing Nasreen such a riveting read is the way it takes this uncertainty and makes it even more complex by adding sexuality and desire to the angst-filled immigrant experience. Stealing Nasreen reveals the intricacies of human relationships, but more importantly, it is an eye-opening critique of the multicultural dream. The Paperwalas exist apart from a mainstream society that sees them as anonymous Indian immigrants. These characters challenge anonymity as they work through their own unique needs and wants… In the end, these characters discover that belonging is a continuous and maddening act of reaching for the elusive.” July, 2007. more
Highlights of Mridula Nath Cahkraborty’s Herizon’s review: “Verdict: This is a lovely piece of work, comely in its appeal, confident in its address. It’s a work of love and longing and loss, and also of reconciliation and rejuvenation. In a voice that is completely assured of itself, Farzana Doctor weaves a tale of new and old immigrants in the impersonal and impervious megapolis that is Toronto.” Sept. 22, 2008. more
Highlights of Nicholas Keung’s Desi Life (Toronto Star) review: ”You don’t get a novel more Torontonian than Farzana Doctor’s Stealing Nasreen and you don’t have to be of South Asian descent to relate to the characters in a story that hinges on the worlds of the first- and second-generation immigrants in this multicultural city…The author brings up a lot of interesting observations: a discussion about the sense of “home,” a comment about how a South Asian Canadian seems to be more Indian than her family in Mumbai, and a dialogue between Salma and Shaffiq about what’s “moving forward” in Canada…Although Shaffiq’s newfound hobby of collecting garbage he finds in people’s offices is creepy and hopefully unrealistic, there are glimpses of brilliant – and funny – observations by the writer…And there’s this play of the English language by non-native speakers: Salma responds to someone commenting how sweet her two children are by saying, “Sometimes a little sour, too.”" October 11, 2007 more
Highlights of Jodi Lungren’s Canadian Literature review: “Stealing Nasreen creates an extraordinary degree of intimacy by juxtaposing sensory detail—“the air holds memories of thousands of meals cooked here, hints of cumin mixed expertly with tumeric, coriander, and chili”—with the probing self-reflections of the central characters” October 2008 more
Debbie Ridpath Ohi recently interviewed me for BlogTO and also did a review:http://www.blogto.com/author/debbie
Here is a review by Canadian Book Clubs: http://www.canadianbookclubs.com/bkrv/topic/17
