Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion, Bushra Rehman

I read this book awhile ago when the author came to speak at Cornell, and enjoyed it so much that I made my book club read it, and therefore reread it myself last week. What I think is so cool about it is that it combines three related genres — the coming of age story, the immigrant family story (and the tensions of assimilation), and the queer coming out story — but it doesn’t hew closely to the expected conventions of any of them. Although there’s a clear arc of development (and a sense of getting to know the characters and watching them change), it’s also episodic in structure, and there’s no compulsion to fill in all the gaps. It delves into the details of life for Pakistani-Americans without feeling like a guided tour for Americans, and skillfully handles the balance of attachment and critique, recognizing serious problems in the community without playing into negative stereotypes. And it describes the joys and struggles of being a queer teenager without dutifully plodding through the conventional milestones.

But it’s also just so wonderfully vivid — thick description, richly evoked atmosphere. And the ending is so bold — and exactly right for what the book is doing. Great read to kick off your summer!