The Centre

By (author) Siddiqi, Ayesha Manazir
Short description/annotation
A darkly comic, boundary-pushing debut following an adrift Pakistani translator in London who attends a mysterious language school which boasts complete fluency in just ten days, but at a secret, sinister cost.
Description

''Thrilling but deeply thought provoking, a combination that is truly rare'' - Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl

A darkly comic, boundary-pushing debut following an adrift Pakistani translator in London who attends a mysterious language school which boasts complete fluency in just ten days, but at a secret, sinister cost.

Anisa Ellahi dreams of being a translator of ''great works of literature,'' but instead mostly spends her days subtitling Bollywood movies, living off her parents’ generous allowance, and discussing the ''underside of life'' with her best friend, Naima. Anisa’s mediocre white boyfriend, Adam, only adds to her growing sense of inadequacy with his savant-level aptitude for languages, successfully leveraging his expansive knowledge into an enviable career. But when Adam learns to speak Urdu with native fluency practically overnight, Anisa forces him to reveal his secret.

Adam begrudgingly tells Anisa about the Centre, an elite, invite-only program that guarantees near-instant fluency in any language. Skeptical but intrigued, Anisa enrolls—stripped of her belongings and contact with the outside world—and emerges ten days later fluent in German. As Anisa enmeshes herself further within the Centre, seduced by all that it’s made possible, she soon realizes the true cost of its services.

By turns dark, funny, and surreal, and with twists page-turning and shocking, The Centre takes the reader on a journey through Karachi, London, and New Delhi, interrogating the sticky politics of language, translation, and appropriation with biting specificity, and ultimately asking: what is success really worth?

A remarkable debut from Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi, announcing the arrival of an extraordinary new talent.

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An absolutely stunning and unique novel . . . A book that is not only thrilling but deeply thought provoking, a combination that is truly rare
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Creepy, provocative and wildly entertaining . . . I was gripped
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The Centre is a banger! . . . A book that feels both cheery and terrifying, The Centre draws you in with a gentle hand until it throws the mallet down in the last thirty pages. A terrific meditation on language, diaspora, alienation, and culture, it will stay with you long after you read
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Propulsive and profound. I was gripped by the mystery haunting the core of the book — and equally gripped by Siddiqi’s exploration of the power of language . . . a debut of dazzling wit and insight
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A twisting mystery and nuanced exploration of identity and assimilation, The Centre cuts deep . . . A compelling, witty, sometimes gruesome tale of how we use language to connect and to sever, appropriate and explore
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I am obsessed with this book and you will be too! A brilliant meditation on language and translation and the most gripping novel I''ve read in forever . . . I''m in awe
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As haunting as it is tempting; this book devoured me back
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A gripping, surreal mystery about language, identity, and greed. The Centre explores impossible success at an equally impossible price—and the difference between merely paying for something and truly understanding its dark cost
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The most fascinating debut I''ve read in years—enigmatic, biting, absurd, and righ