What is the moment, that exact moment, when everything in a friendship changes? Soul mates from birth, Karim and Raheen finish one another's sentences, speak in anagrams and lie spine to spine. They are irrevocably bound to one another and to Karachi, Pakistan. It beats in their hearts - violent, polluted, corrupt, vibrant, brave and ultimately, home. As the years go by they let a barrier of silence build between them until they are brought together during a dry summer of strikes and ethnic violence and their relationship stands poised between strained friendship and fated love. Impassioned and touching, Kartography is a love song to Karachi. In her extraordinary new novel, Kamila Shamsie shows us that, whatever happens in the world, we must never forget the complicated war in our hearts.

Author Biography

Kamila Shamsie was born in 1973 in Pakistan. Her first novel, In the City by the Sea, was published in 1998 and shortlisted for the John Llewelyn Rhys/Mail on Sunday Prize. In 1999 Kamila received the Award for Literature in Pakistan and in 2000 published her second novel Salt and Saffron to critical acclaim. In 2001 Kamila was selected as one of Orange's 21 writers for the 21st Century. Kamila lives in London and Karachi.