Author: Uzma Aslam Khan
Publisher: Rupa
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 200
ISBN/UPC (if available): 9788129114617
Description
Marking the debut of a gifted storyteller from Pakistan, this novel, vividly narrated and full of funny yet complex dilemmas, is about the sweetness of life and about how we inexorably drive ourselves to our own doom.
The sweet taste of the wine comes from the muscadelle grape, and the grayish mould that it attracts. The mould is lovingly called pourriture noble, noble rot.
It is the careless abandon of a wine-satiated afternoon that first brings together the imperious Mrs. Masood and the humble carpenter's wife, Malika. As she observes the wealthy woman whose family is responsible for all her troubles, a plan takes shape in Malika's mind to recover the money Mrs. Masood owes her husband, and rescue her son from slow death in Mr. Masood's carpet factory.
Unknown to both women, the moment marks the beginning of a relationship that is to change their lives for ever.
Into the complex web of Malika's plans are drawn Mr. Saeed, who swells in his study with his ruby-studded armadillo; the Pathan with the sun-dappled eyes; Momin of the hennaed hands with his love for fish and birds, and Saima with her unpredictable affections and fabulous stories.