Synopsis
'A compassionate, beautifully told portrait' Guy Gunaratne
'Absorbing, witty, eloquent fiction, as well as a trenchant political critique' Tom Benn
'A hymn to empathy, alive with care and love' Rebecca Watson
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 JHALAK PRIZE
Jamila Shah is twenty-nine and exhausted.
An immigration solicitor tasked with running the precious family law firm, Jamila is prone to being woken in the middle of the night by frantic phone calls from clients on the cusp of deportation. Working under the shadow of the government's 'hostile environment', she constantly prays and hopes that their 'determinations' will result in her clients being allowed to stay.
With no time for friends, family or even herself (never mind a needy partner), Jamila's life feels hectic and out of control. Then a breakdown of sorts forces her to seek change - to pursue her own happiness while navigating the endless expectations that the world seems to have of her, and still committing herself to a career devoted to helping others.
In this assured and character-driven debut, we meet the staff of Shah & Co Solicitors, who themselves arrived in the UK not too long ago, and their clients, more recent arrivals - all trying to achieve some semblance of normality.
'Absorbing, witty, eloquent fiction, as well as a trenchant political critique' Tom Benn
'A hymn to empathy, alive with care and love' Rebecca Watson
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 JHALAK PRIZE
Jamila Shah is twenty-nine and exhausted.
An immigration solicitor tasked with running the precious family law firm, Jamila is prone to being woken in the middle of the night by frantic phone calls from clients on the cusp of deportation. Working under the shadow of the government's 'hostile environment', she constantly prays and hopes that their 'determinations' will result in her clients being allowed to stay.
With no time for friends, family or even herself (never mind a needy partner), Jamila's life feels hectic and out of control. Then a breakdown of sorts forces her to seek change - to pursue her own happiness while navigating the endless expectations that the world seems to have of her, and still committing herself to a career devoted to helping others.
In this assured and character-driven debut, we meet the staff of Shah & Co Solicitors, who themselves arrived in the UK not too long ago, and their clients, more recent arrivals - all trying to achieve some semblance of normality.
Details
13 June 2024
320 pages
9781804440902
Imprint: Footnote Press
Reviews
“This is a story of people trying their best to be human in a system that dehumanises those it is supposed to care for and those brave enough to work in it”Damian Barr
“A compassionate, beautifully told portrait populated by lives that circle the UK's lamentable immigration story. This is a story of determination, also grief, hope, loss and desperation, as well as a reminder of the care, patience and kindness at the human end of a broken system”Guy Gunaratne, author of IN OUR MAD AND FURIOUS CITY and winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Jhalak Prize.
“Tawseef Khan dramatises timely quests for migrant justice amid the grinding frustrations and punitive hypocrisy of the modern British state. Resisting stereotypes and easy moralising, this is absorbing, witty, eloquent fiction, as well as a trenchant political critique”Tom Benn, author of OXBLOOD and winner of the 2022 Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award
“Determination is a hymn to empathy, alive with care and love . . . This is a novel not just to spend time with for the joy of the richly detailed world Khan has created but to be enlivened and challenged by. Embedded in his compelling and compassionate novel is an emphatic rebuttal to the racism and xenophobia rife in this country”Rebecca Watson, author of LITTLE SCRATCH
