Among Muslims: Meetings at the frontiers of Pakistan

Description

"Among Muslims" is the account of Kathleen Jamie's time travelling alone and living among the Shia and Ismaeli Muslims in the Northern Areas - the part of the former state of Kashmir now administered by Pakistan and one of the most volatile borderlands in the world. Yet there was much that seemed oddly familiar: staying with women in Purdah reminded Jamie of her own family past; the intense religious ceremonies brought back memories of Orangemen marching through Glasgow.

Kathleen Jamie is one of the U.K. s foremost poets; The Golden Peak was shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Award, and she has won several prestigious poetry awards, including the Somerset Maugham, Forward, Creative Scotland Award, and Geoffrey Faber Memorial award (twice). As well as poetry, Jamie writes for the London Review of Books and is a frequent writer and presenter of travelogues for Radio Four.

Genius is no stranger to the work of Kathleen Jamie, whose finely poised writing and subtly profound sensibility have made her such an artisan of the human heart. * Scotsman * What is ultimately most impressive is the energy, good humour and panache with which Jamie's language rises to the variety of its occasions. -- Patrick Crotty * Times Literary Supplement * A beautifully crafted account... the power of Jamie's prose is spare but magical. She writes tenderly but without sentimentality. Should be required reading. * Daily Telegraph * A wonderfully sensual study of the land and its people which feels more timeless than topical * Observer * Kathleen Jamie's prose writing is utterly luminous, as you'd expect from her poetry, but Among Muslims (Sort of Books) is much more than a well-written travel book, and its insights are even more urgent in the light of the dangerous and criminal crudity of President Bush's approach to the region * Independent on Sunday Book of the Year Choice 2002 * This eloquent tale with its plea for understanding and tolerance couldn't have been better timed. * Sunday Times * It is her beautiful prose, drawn from a rural Scottish palate, that really illuminates the book - a wonderfully sensual study of the land and its people which feels more topical than timeless. * Observer * A better emissary to the Karakoram could not be imagined. She displays a deep warmth unemcumbered by illusion. * Scotland on Sunday * Illuminated throughout with a vision that sees beneath surfaces. To share a journey such as this is an enriching experience. -- Norman Lewis