Daily Times

The novel home fire is written by Kamila Shamsie who is award-winning British-Pakistani novelist. The narrative techniques used in this novel are shift of time, dialogue and point of view. The genre of this novel belongs to romance novel, political fiction and domestic fiction.

This novel has a story about Isma and her twin siblings (Aneeka and Parvaiz). They belong to Pasha family of Pakistani origin who have been settled in Britain for years. Their father Adil Pasha went for jihad in Afghanistan and was arrested by the US army. He was kept in jail in Bagram Airfield. Then he was killed. Isma and her family went to the British home secretary Karamat Lone to inquire about the extra judicial killing of their father but Lone rejected their request. Lone is Home Secretary British-Pakistani who married to an Irish woman and stays away from Pakistani community in UK.

Actually, he is the villain of this novel. After that Isma’s mother also died, she started working in laundry and also continued her education. She completed her Bachelors in sociology when her siblings Aneeka and Parvaiz reached to their adulthood. Isma went to America to pursue her dream of getting higher studies from America. At the starting of the novel, it was written that Isma was going to miss her flight from London to Boston where she was thoroughly checked by Heathrow Airport security officials and many awkward questions were asked from her like, do you consider yourself British? Her laptop especially her browsing history was checked. That shows the Islamophobia in the west. Then she left London for America.

She in a nearby café met 24 years old Eamonn Lone son of British Home Secretary Karamat Lone. He was half-Irish and half Pakistani. They both talked to each other at the café and had very good relations. One day Eamonn comes to know that Isma dislikes his father; Eamonn became upset and went away. After a long time, they both met each other again and had a good relationship.

Parvaiz became friend of an Arab Jihadi Farooq who was member of ISIS, whose father was in the war of Bosnia along with Parvaiz’s father. He encouraged him to learn what happened to his father in Bagram Airfield. He was also a critic of British policies which affected Parvaiz’s family too much. He persuaded Parvaiz to join the ISIS Caliphate to get rid of cruelties done by western powers. Parvaiz started to make arrangements to visit his family in Pakistan but skips his flight in Istanbul and leaves for Syria to join ISIS.

Farooq went to the battlefront leaving behind Parvaiz in Recca without helping him to meet his father’s friend. Parvaiz decided to go to the British consulate to save himself but killed in drive-by shooting. The UK government didn’t allow Parvaiz’s family to bring back his dead body. Eamonn was in dilemma whether to support his father or Isma. Aneeka was outraged and went to Pakistan because Parvaiz’s dead body was sent to Pakistan. Karamat Lone received many threats; he and his family were sent to safe room.

Eamonn despite of danger flew to Pakistan in order to help Aneeka who was present in Karachi with her brother’s dead body. Eamonn arrived Karachi Park In Search Of Aneeka, suddenly two men strapped Eamonn into belt of explosives. The crowd gathered there run-away Eamonn struggled in vain to free himself from explosives. Aneeka ran towards him. They both embraced each other for few moments and both of them died in the blast.

The ending would have been better if the positive conclusion should be added. The negative character “Karamat Lone” did not received any punishment for his misdeeds. In this novel, Islamophobia in West was shown and how it is difficult for Muslims to live there.