Centre

'Absolutely stunning . . . thrilling and unique' - Gillian Flynn'Creepy, provocative and wildly entertaining' - Emma Stonex'A thrillingly ambitious literary chiller' - The GuardianWelcome to The Centre. You'll never be the same . . . Anisa Ellahi spends her days writing subtitles for Bollywood films in her London flat, all the while longing to be a translator of ‘great works of literature’.When her boyfriend Adam learns to speak Urdu practically overnight, he tells Anisa about the Centre, an elite, invite-only programme that guarantees total fluency in any language in just ten days. Sceptical but intrigued, Anisa enrols. Stripped of her belongings and contact with the outside world, she undergoes the Centre’s strange and rigorous processes. But as she enmeshes herself further within the organization, seduced by all that it’s made possible, she soon realizes the disturbing, hidden cost of its services.A remarkable debut from Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi, by turns dark, funny and surreal, 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 price would you be willing to pay for success?

Fantastic . . . This Black Mirror take on the world of language opens up questions of cultural appropriation, the power of language, memory and privilege . . . Siddiqi’s easy storytelling and her heroine Anisa’s sweet narrative voice slip down like summer rosé. Siddiqi has the gift of maintaining propulsion and mystery, while keeping things human and realistic . . . compelling . . . wonderful , An absolutely stunning and unique novel . . . A book that is not only thrilling but deeply thought provoking, a combination that is truly rare, Creepy, provocative and wildly entertaining . . . I was gripped, This thrillingly ambitious literary chiller . . . balances the light with the profound, combining humour and horror as it takes on issues of power and privilege, class, identity, assimilation and more., Ingenious . . . This is a book whose many delights and horrors are unlikely to be lost in translation

Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi has written plays, essays, book reviews and short stories. Her work has appeared in anthologies publications, and her plays have been staged widely. Ayesha also works as an editor and occasional translator. She was a contributing editor for The Trojan Horse Affair, a podcast by The New York Times. Ayesha is from Karachi and lives in London. The Centre is her debut novel.