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Rabia Khan'sGhostsBook Review by Safoora MasoodReading a book is like familiarising yourself with a bunch of characters, youbasically fancy to find your reflection in. Although 'Ghosts' didn't bringforward any yearning parts of my being, I did make a lot of new friends.'Ghosts' is the story of two women; Madeline a young and US basedsuccessful art gallery owner, whose life is a rollercoaster ride of confusedemotions and crave for belonging.On the other side of the world there is Zuleikha, an old Lahori lady whose lifeis all about her beautiful house, her small decorated trunk and love for herabsent husband. The novel revolves around the idea of how unknowingly theycross each others path and become means of each others unfulfilled desiresand wishes.I've never really been to Lahore or San Francisco, but the novelist, RabiaKhan, has put an extra effort in her book to reason the beauty of the two cities,what sets them apart, and how they can still be common in their ownmetaphor. The book starts off with Madeline receiving a marriage invitation ofher old friend Tariq. Tariq, with whom she has shared a lot more then justemotions and trips, starts off as the hub of all her problems but ends in thebook as a saviour. Once in Lahore she lives in the to-be-endowed-mansionowned by Bilal, an unmarried uncle to Tariq and Humayun, while Zuleikhawatches them all, atop the staircase. Joined with Carl, another old friend fromher college days Madeline sees Lahore in a new limelight compared to herprevious visits, the traditions of marriage, the shrewd tactics of the decoratedLahore ladies, the spies, the seemingly open-minded yet conservative nature ofthe men are just some of the topics Saira, Tariq's aunt, narrates to her. Thetraditional details of old ladies, charpois and lahori delicacies are veryintricately sketched out here.Soon enough Madeline finds a true ally in Saira. On one of the Tea-party visitsto Saira's home, Saira caringly but slyly confronts Madeline with her owndistant love story making Madeline realise her own distressed feelings forTariq, her love? her lust? another distant love story? Deciding on not to causeherself more emotional damage, she goes back to San Francisco.Still living is distress and unease and facing the worst perplexity of all times,it's through her physic friend Audrey that she realises that Tariq is not thereason for her unease. It's the house. The glamorous pale yellow house. It's the

house that wants something from her. But little did she know that it's Zuleikhafrom that house, whose presence she has smelled and known but was unawareof. Zuleikha on the other side sits with strands of Madeline's hair, narratingpowerful words to bring her back and serve her an end.Only a week later, Madeline takes a short business trip to London and issurprised to find Tariq and Humayun also in town. Humayun is Tariq's cousin,he's a smart, reasonable, well-educated and responsible man with businessflourishing in several parts of the world. The story takes a cunning twist whenMadeline decides to prolong her London trip and reside in separate rooms atHumayun's country hotel where they join together to explore the beautifulcountry side. But soon they realise that they've come out exploring a lot morethen the scenic beauties.To know what will happen once Madeline leaves London, who will inherit thehouse and how will Zulaikha's troubled journey be eased. And moreimportantly why is Zulaikha calling out for Madeline and what is it in her pastthat bounds her to the house, you will have to get your hands on this book.The climax of the story is very well narrated, which did leave me in a state offascination for the author. Although, Rabia Khan has done a real good job inaccounting this story, the only questionable content of this story is the issue oflesbianism, which does break the flow of the story a little, especially when onegrasps a certain respect for the old lady. Regardless of this minute endeavour, Ihighly recommend this book especially for people like me who have neverseen the city of Lahore and San Francisco. Actually I don't think it's a harm toadd that, it's quite beguiling to realise, that this book is all about US, UK andPakistan written by a novelist residing in my home-land, UAE.Hats off! Your first write is a definite good read.Order this book now from Amazon.com

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