Orphaned as a little boy and fending for himself in the city streets, Yazid rises to a place of responsibility and respect in the Lahore household of Colonel Atar, a powerful industrialist and politician, only to find that position threatened by conflicting loyalties and misplaced trust. Born on Colonel Atar’s country estate to a poor gardener, Saqib is entrusted with the management of a pioneering business, but he overreaches and finds himself an outlaw, confronting the violence of the corrupt Punjab Police. The colonel’s son competes with his cherished brother for the love of a woman and discovers that her choice colors his life with unexpected darkness as well as light.
Sensitive and powerful ... The women in This Is Where the Serpent Lives are sharply drawn, but their roles are more circumscribed ... The magic in This Is Where the Serpent Lives is the up-close work. Mueenuddin makes the reader care about the romantic relationships, and the pages turn themselves ... A serious book that you’ll be hearing about again, later in the year, when the shortlists for the big literary prizes are announced ... I wish it were more unbuttoned.
Mueenuddin’s characters are vividly drawn, and though his prose is spare, it also offers phrases of great beauty ... Has that kind of ambition and captures its world in the same exhilarating and unsparing way.
Imagine a shattering portrayal of Pakistani life through a chain of interlocking novellas, and you’ll be somewhere close to understanding the breadth and impact of Daniyal Mueenuddin’s first novel ... Mueenuddin’s writing is always fluent and often very funny. He brings the smells and tastes of Pakistan to vibrant life ... If I had a criticism it would be that the four narratives give no space to a female outlook ... Looks set to be one of the standout novels of 2026.
