Cover image from Goodreads.com
Anisa is a translator and works at adding subtitles to movies. She feels her work is insignificant as she’s not translating great works of literature. Adam, her new boyfriend, tells her about the Centre, where one can go and absorb language in two weeks for a hefty sum of money. Only allowed to refer one person in your lifetime, he refers Anisa.
At first, Anisa thinks it’s impossible to absorb language in such a short time. She attends anyway, choosing German, where she has a strict schedule of meditation, meal times, and listening to a Storyteller speak in German. She’s astounded that the process works and opts to choose Russian next.
While at the Centre, she becomes attached to her supervisor Shiba. They form a bond that lasts outside the Centre and Anisa learns that Shiba’s dad is one of the inventors of the process. While staying at Shiba’s family’s place, Anisa learns some truly disturbing things about the Centre.
Written in a stream of consciousness style, the novel has a conversational tone that’s fairly easy to follow. The author includes a lot of non-English words, more than a simple peppering, which was a bit distracting. Authentic, though, as the character talking is from Pakistan and moved to Britain while in college.
I was disappointed with the ending. I’m not sure how I might have liked it to end, but felt like the story was a bit unfinished. All the loose ends are tied up nicely, but I was left thinking that the impact of the story was lost because of the ending.
Should Be Writing 