Salt and Saffron

Salt and Saffron
Overall Summary
 https://crazybookishlove.com/2020/11/18/review-salt-and-saffron/
Salt and Saffron by Kamila Shamsie is a light-hearted book about family history, class divisions,
prejudices and familial love. Shamsie has created a fictional aristocratic family, proud of its roots that go
back many centuries. She has used this family as an example of the elitism and caste system deeply
embedded in our culture in the guise of family values and pride.
The very name of the family, the Dard-e-Dils (the Heartaches), is so unreal that you
know what will follow can only be satirical and tongue-in-cheek. This family, the Dard-e-Dils, is
proud of its heritage and they love to tell stories, mainly about their ancestors. Most of these
stories are about the “not-quite” twins. These “not-quite” twins have been born quite
frequently through history, and have always brought about the downfall of this family.
Aliya is the main protagonist, going back from the US to her family in Karachi, by way of
London. She last talked to her Dadi (paternal grandmother) 4 years ago when they had a
massive falling out. After avoiding her for 4 years, Aliya thinks that it’s time to heal the breach.
But first, she makes a stop in London to see her older cousin with whom she is very close. And it
is there that her own story seems to take an unexpected turn. She not only finds herself
attracted to a boy who might be unacceptable to her family, but also meets the Indian side of
her family.
The Indian and Pakistani sides of the Dard-e-Dils refuse to acknowledge each other, and
still carry old wounds from the time of the partition. Aliya learns something about herself
during her meeting with her Indian relatives. This makes it even more imperative for her to go
back home and figure out what she wants from life.
Essentially a love story, Salt and Saffron also takes a look at the deeper consequences of
the Indo-Pak partition; the deeply ingrained prejudices that are passed down through
generations in the form of class and caste. How family history is written through stories that
become legends as time passes.
Kamila Shamsie is an excellent writer and it is hard to find fault in her writing. She takes
very real elements from her surroundings and turns them into a riveting story. The only
problem is that since this book is written from the perspective of a particular class, it might be
difficult to relate to for people who do not belong to that class. However, this does not stop me
from appreciating her craft and her command of words. She is definitely a master storyteller.
 https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-58234-093-7
Clever, witty and inventive, this engaging novel tackles the challenges of reconciling one
culture's progressive values with another's allegiance to family and tradition. Shamsie, well-
known in her native Pakistan for a prize-winning first novel, In the City by the Sea, writes about
Anglo-Indian culture clash with a subtlety and wit that recall Rushdie. Aliya, just graduated from
an American college, heads home for the summer to her family in Pakistan for another kind of
education, this one focused on the dynamics of class and love and directed by her well-heeled
but intolerant relatives. While lively, likable characters with a shared passion for relaying stories
from the family's colorful past, Aliya's kin annoy her with their disdain for those who do not
share their distinguished lineage.
The storied family curse of ""not-quite-twins,"" relatives close in age that share a cosmic
connection and disgrace the family's name, becomes more threat than myth when an aunt
labels Aliya and her beloved cousin, Mariam APA, as ""not-quites."" Indeed, Aliya has been
bitterly estranged from a number of her relatives, especially her grandmother Dadi, since their
scornful rejection of Mariam, a near-mute who eloped with the family cook. When Aliya finds
herself drawn to a Westernized Pakistani whose parents hail from the slums of Karachi, her
disillusionment with her family's snobbery and her identification with the unfortunate Mariam
intensifies.
However, as Aliya leans more about her family's tangled history, especially her
grandmother's life and the three men at the center of it brothers divided by India and
Pakistan's separation she learns that she, too, has been quick to judge. Her family turns out to
be more passionate and complex than Aliya assumes, just as this winning novel resonates more
deeply than its lighthearted tone would suggest.
Character of Aliya
A beautiful novel detailing the life and loves of a Pakistani girl living in the U.S. Aliya may
not have inherited her family's patrician looks, but she is as much a prey to the legends of her
family that stretch back to the days of Timur Lang. Aristocratic and eccentric-the clan has
plenty of stories to tell, and secrets to hide. Like salt and saffron, which both flavor food but in
slightly different ways, it is the small, subtle differences that cause the most trouble in Aliya's
family. The family problems and scandals caused by these minute differences echo the history
of the sub-continent and the story of Partition. A superb storyteller, Kamila Shamsie writes with
warmth and gusto. Through the many anecdotes about Pakistani family life, she hints at the
larger tale of a divided nation. Spanning the subcontinent from the Muslim invasions to the
Partition, this is a magical novel about the shapes stories can take- turning into myths,
appearing in history books and entering into our lives.

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