Our Lady of Alice Bhatti (Mohammed Hanif)

The Herald describes this book as "A subtle, unnerving little book". I think that is a very good description of what this book does - it subtly unnerves you without you realizing this. It moves fairly fast and you go along with it, curious to know what happens next and who does what. But before you realize, you are at the end and you feel disturbed. As if you have read someone diary that you shouldn't have or said aloud things that people in polite society ignore and pretend that they don't exist. (Everybody farts in secret and everybody knows about it, but this author farted in public and does not even apologize.)

Our Lady of Alice Bhatti is about a young girl Alice who belongs to the Christian Choorha community - on of the lowest in the abominable caste system. Her religion and her other social markers make her a pariah in the larger community and somehow gives everyone a license to behave the way they want to. A fighter that our girl is, she has refused to be cowed down, has clawed her way through a difficult motherless childhood, an adolescence where she realises she may be "untouchable" but that does not guard her against unwanted touch. She has even served time in Borstal - the prison for women and children and come out much the wiser. She is a trained nurse and through a minor miracle, finds employment in a charity hospital where magically, her pile of troubles actually seem smaller than that of the others. Here she meets Teddy, a body builder and a henchman of the local police, the one that does their dirty work and is grateful for it, else he would have to be a driver and bodyguard for some rich kid. 

Love blooms in the unlikliest of places and for the most ridiculous reasons. And the beautiful Alice is a Wonder for Teddy. After a whirlwind romance, Alice finds herself married to him but very soon they both realize they have no idea what they have got into. And of course events and people and prejudices have a way of coming in the way and adding to the confusion and the tragedy. At the end, one is left grappling with who is Alice, what does she mean for anyone, is there anyone in her life who she could trust and why is a young, smart, feisty woman who wanted to do nothing more than just live......,so dispensable......

Mohammed Hanif's writing is merciless and to the point - no lyrical prose to soften the blow but also hitting without warning. Its not something that will make you lose sleep if you read it. But it is something that will keep making you feel bitter long after you have finished it and put it back on the shelf. This book left me losing a little more faith in humanity.