Ali Sethi's semiautobiographical novel "The Wish Maker" is set in Pakistan during the years when Benazir Bhutto held office and political turmoil prevailed. Refusing to rely on the usual clichés about either Islam or anti-Muslim attitudes, Sethi -- Harvard-educated, 24 years old, the son of Pakistani prodemocracy journalists -- offers readers a unique, nuanced and frequently humorous portrayal of life in modern-day Pakistan.
The book's narrator, Zaki, is a fatherless boy in a family of formidable and contentious women. Zaki's mother, a liberal journalist and feminist, hosts gatherings of outspoken professional women in her home, attends outlawed demonstrations with Zaki in tow and is sometimes arrested for her stances.
Zaki's constant companion is his slightly older female cousin, Samar, who lives in an upscale residential enclave in Lahore. Very much a drama queen, Samar confides the constantly shifting circumstances of her love life to Zaki. With his complicity she arranges unchaperoned meetings with men -- risky, because if these trysts were to be discovered, Samar would become an outcast in Pakistan's conservative Islamic society.
Appearing at this pivotal time of intense U.S. interest in Pakistan, "The Wish Maker" deserves a slot at the top of every fiction reader's list. As the title of this remarkable novel suggests, it illuminates the human capacity for wishmaking, for wanting a richer and better life no matter one's social status or age, and for recognizing the authenticity of that desire in others.
KATHERINE BAILEY
