Housmans and Hajar Press are delighted to celebrate the launch of this important, magnificent novel. Saima Begum’s The First Jasmines follows two sisters, Lucky and Jamila, after they are captured by the military while on the way to visit their mother in what was then called East Pakistan, in 1971.

Locked in a room in an unknown village-turned-camp by the river, the women look through a lone barred window onto white jasmines blooming day and night. Meanwhile, around the camp, deadly guerrilla fighters from the Bengali Mukti Bahini gather to take back territory from the Pakistan Army.

As Bangladesh crowns painfully into the world, Lucky and Jamila must choose between heartbreak and secrecy to return from an unspoken violence.

We are extremely lucky to have Saima Begum with us on the night, joined in conversation by Shahnaz Ahsan. We anticipate this will be a popular event so please book ahead to avoid disappointment.

Our Speakers:

Saima Begum is a British-Bangladeshi writer based in North London. She won the MFest Short Story Competition in 2021. The First Jasmines is her first novel.

Shahnaz Ahsan is an author, columnist and award-winning food writer. ​Her latest book is The Jackfruit Chronicles: Memories and Recipes from a British-Bangladeshi Kitchen, published by HarperNorth. Her debut novel, Hashim & Family, was an Observer Best Book of 2020 and was shortlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker Prize. ​

Visit the Housmans website to book tickets.