Review of Under the Tamarind Tree by Nigar Alam

*Under the Tamarind Tree* by Nigar Alam (2023). Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

One of the many great experiences in my life is that in the summer of 2019, I was one of ten American college-aged writers selected to attend a program at the International Writing Program at Iowa.

There, we were joined by Pakistani and Indian writers, and a big part of our program was to dig deeper into the trauma and literature of the Partition of South Asia in the forties, and the ensuing narratives that were published on both sides after the fact.

So needless to say, this has continued to be a piece of history that has remained dear in my heart, years later in graduate school. That’s when I received an advanced reading copy of Under the Tamarind Tree, I was really happy.

The literature surrounding Partition and what happened is really starting to come closer to the forefront of English language publishing, slowly but surely, and this is an example of it to me.

I hadn’t heard of the book before I was given this copy through NetGalley, but I began reading it on the New York subway and finished it within two days (or four subway rides from Brooklyn to Manhattan and back). I was enamored with the stories contained within the novel, and I thought that the shifting time periods added a layer of depth we’ll get into later.

I’m already rambling, so let’s get into the review!

An incident among Partition survivors remains a scar in their history decades later.

Under the Tamarind Tree takes place across two different time periods: 1964, when the inciting incident happens in the city of Karachi in Pakistan, and in 2019, when the main character, Rozeena, is much older. Each chapter alternates between these two different time periods throughout the novel. But in the beginning, we learn that she is trying to be a doctor to provide an income for her family after the Partition.

The opening section tells us that she lost her brother to the violence of Partition, and the details behind his death (which was not a kind one) are explained later on in the novel. Her family was fleeing to Pakistan, and in order for Rozeena to live, her brother sacrificed himself.

There are signs early on that Rozeena’s life isn’t going to go as she planned, but when a group of her friends are on the rooftop of Haaris’ house, her friends are fellow Partition survivors, something really terrible happens.

That’s a key thing to remember about this book—these are people who lived through extreme violence and despair when the separation of India and Pakistan happened. Even if you don’t know much about the history, I highly recommend looking into it while reading the novel. It will add critical context for the overarching tragedy that goes on in the background.

But on that rooftop, something breaks in all of them. We learn in 2019 some wisps of this distant past, but when Rozeena gets a phone call from Haaris, the first time in years, it sparks all of the memories that she had repressed of this life she had left behind.

She ends up befriending his granddaughter, which adds a new element of history to their relationship. She wants to take care of this girl, and at one point when something happens, she is frantic with worry.

It’s through the connection of the past and present that we fill in the dots and the heartbreaking decisions these characters had to make even after living through such traumatic events in their lives.

I think that Under the Tamarind Tree is a slow read because of this; you need some time to sit with what’s happening to them and to process, almost as if it’s a grief of your own. That’s an indicator to me that the narrative has sunk in with the readers and resonates—these characters feel real, despite many of us not potentially relating to what they’ve gone through.

This is a beautifully written novel, and I think choosing Rozeena as the vehicle to tell such a story works well. She’s someone who was compassionate enough to want to try and be a doctor, even if it meant helping her family out, and a lot of the core of this novel is about the decisions we make and their impacts.

The entire family and others are seeing these impacts of certain decisions throughout the novel, and while the focus isn’t exclusively Partition, that’s where extensive trauma finds its root and the catalyst for other critical decisions later on. Without it, these characters would have never met.

Overall Thoughts

This is a novel I’d recommend for anyone, even if they don’t know the history behind it or know much about South Asian literature as a whole. Just Google and read up on it in between readings, and take your time with the novel.

It may seem like a difficult journey as you’re getting through it at times, but I think that it’s a worthy one. Novels have this beautiful way of transporting us into worlds that we never knew about, and I think this is an excellent gateway towards other novels in the same kind of historical scope. Pick this one up if you have the chance for sure.

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