Shortlisted for the Sahitya Akademi Award.
Nominated for the KIRKUS PRIZE in USA.
Shortlisted for the Atta Galatta Bangalore Festival Book Prize: http://bangaloreliteraturefestival.org/year-2016/ag-blf-book-prize/
Shortlisted for the Tata Book of the Year Award in India: http://thewire.in/77735/mumbai-literature-festival-announces-longlists-for-five-book-awards/
AMITAV GHOSH: “This powerful, compelling, urgent novel succeeds in being compassionate towards its principal characters without flinching from the full horror of their choices.” Read more here: http://amitavghosh.com/blog/
Indra Sinha in The Guardian (UK): “Every step of the way, Khair’s gentle humour anticipates and outmanoeuvres the ready prejudices of his characters and readers, indulging and sparing neither.” Read more: http://www.ourdailyread.com/2017/04/just-another-jihadi-jane-by-tabish-khair-review-eye-opening-story-of-isis-recruitment/
Newsday (USA) lists ‘Just Another Jihadi Jane’ among 12 great books that deserved more buzz: http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/books/great-books-that-deserved-more-buzz-in-2016-1.12772479
Gulzar, poet and film-maker:
“A terrifying story of terrible times… Tabish Khair, essentially a poet (as I know him), must have gone through moments of terror narrating this story — like the protagonist Ameena in the novel.”
Neel Mukherjee, author of the Man Booker-shortlisted The Lives of Others:
“Gets behind the flat headlines to the three-dimensional human story and takes its pulse with unflinching honesty. This is a gripping, compassionate and truthful novel, written in prose of unobtrusive beauty.”
Liz Jensen, author of The Ninth Life of Louis Drax:
“Wise … nuanced … Tabish Khair powerfully exposes the religious hypocrisy and bloodlust of one of this era’s most magnetic and ruthless movements. This is not just a writer’s nightmare: it is ours.”
At first glance, Jamilla and Ameena couldn’t be more different. Both are Yorkshire-born teenage girls of South Asian descent, but whereas Jamilla lives with her conservative Muslim family and is quiet, religious and academically bright, the more worldly Ameena masks her insecurity behind a brassy, bawdy persona and lives with her divorced mum.
The two strike up an unlikely, fateful friendship. Ameena teases Jamilla about her hijab, nicknaming her ‘nunja’, but also accompanies her to a study group at the mosque as a lark. In the wake of a deeply bruising rejection by a popular boy at school, Ameena develops a serious interest in religion. She begins to espouse a militant version of Islam, and communicates over the Internet with a recruiter for jihad in Syria, influencing Jamilla in turn.
What happens next? Order a copy of the novel and FIND OUT!
KIRKUS REVIEWS, USA: “Was this intense, enlightening novel really written not by a British Muslim girl but a male Indian novelist who lives in Denmark? It seems impossible. Required reading for anyone interested in trying to understand our mad, bloody world.” Read more: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tabish-khair/just-another-jihadi-jane/
Claire Chambers considers it among “the most textured novels” in HUFFINGTON POST (UK): http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-claire-chambers/book-review-tabish-khair-_b_13674626.html
Rupa Bajwa in THE HINDU: “Khair ventures into this terrible space with rare courage and truthfulness, in the process also forcing the reader to look both inwards and outwards more carefully and question where we are headed. It is not just a piece of excellent fiction; it is a very necessary and urgent reminder for all of us to examine our own views and prejudices. Jihadi Jane is a disturbing but refreshing read, written with skill and nuance and, more importantly, with wisdom and empathy. It convinces the reader yet again that Khair remains a sterling yet underrated contemporary writer from the Indian subcontinent.” Full review at: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-sundaymagazine/in-the-is-lair/article8829807.ece
Annie Zaidi in SCROLL.IN: “Khair skilfully cuts to the heart of the question of why young Muslim boys and girls who have so much going for them become enamoured of groups like Daesh.” More from: http://scroll.in/article/811856/do-young-girls-willingly-join-the-islamic-state-to-be-terrorists
Jai Arjun Singh in OPEN MAGAZINE: “And eventually, it is a testament to Khair’s storytelling skills that a reader who feels very differently about faith than Jamilla does should find things to be stimulated and moved by in this story about one woman who finds dramatic redemption and another who is destined to a lifetime of soul-searching.”
Medha Shri Dahiya in HINDUSTAN TIMES: “The thought-provoking book is a tragic, fictional story which might as well be true for many. The book helps to understand the process of brainwashing, the fanaticism and the ‘recruitment’ through social media employed by fanatics to lure vulnerable people. It also lays bare the horror of being a part of the terror gang. It’s heart-wrenching and painful.” Full review at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/books/jihadi-jane-is-a-terrifying-account-of-two-friends-who-decide-to-join-isis/story-MS8EGd3CzyWsVR4rw6BV3O.html
RELEASE DATES: 24 June 2016 (Indian Subcontinent, as JIHADI JANE); 16 September 2016 (UK, as JUST ANOTHER JIHADI JANE); 26 October 2016 (USA, as JUST ANOTHER JIHADI JANE).
Danish Translation, Turkish Translation, French Translation and Italian Translation to be published in late 2018.