Description

‘Smart and gripping – I read it in one sitting. Tara is a glorious creation, crackling with life and aspiration and sensuality’ Kamila Shamsie, author of Home Fire

WINNER OF THE STANFORDS FICTION AWARD 2026

SHORTLISTED FOR THE NOTA BENE PRIZE 2026

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An unforgettable story of motherhood, obsession and ambition

In a dusty village in rural Pakistan, Tara is waiting and watching. She is desperate to leave her small-town life of the village and flee the iron grip of her violent, unpredictable brother. Marriage takes her to the city, but respectability proves to be just another kind of cage.

Set against a hypnotic, oppressive backdrop of political violence and natural disaster, A Splintering traces the class struggle of a woman stuck between province and metropolis, between motherhood and ambition. Even as Tara acquires wealth, her hunger grows for a different life – one of power, possibility and freedom. What limits will she breach for that life? How far will she trangress? Disquieting and utterly gripping, it is an extraordinary achievement by Dur e Aziz Amna, an exploration of a complex and unforgettable character who will risk everything to get what she wants.

Publisher Review

‘A riveting read that boldly calls out patriarchy in Pakistan and beyond’ Mohammed Hanif, author of Red Birds ‘I am constantly amazed by how relentless this is. When you think it’s gone too far it goes further. And I love it for that’ Deepti Kapoor, author of Age of Vice ‘An intoxicating, high-voltage mix of female rage, economic ambition, erotic awakening, and biting disdain aimed at the expectations faced by women in contemporary Pakistani society, Tara’s voice will sear itself in your consciousness like the scowl of a convict facing the firing squad. Never have my sympathies been so roused, tested, and provoked by a character both heroic and tragic, wily and cornered, raw and charred… a magnificent sophomore novel, replete with Amna’s trademark lyricism and sparkling wit’ Aube Rey Lescure, author of River East, River West ‘Smart and gripping – I read it in one sitting. Tara is a glorious creation, crackling with life and aspiration and sensuality’ Kamila Shamsie, author of Best of Friends ‘A lacerating novel by a writer of great insight and deep compassion’ Mohsin Hamid, author of The Last White Man ‘A Splintering is the dizzying kind of novel that puts every part of your brain in competition with the rest. It’s a page-turner, it’s a vivid chronicle of family life, it’s an intimate exploration of selfhood. And more than anything it’s an examination of the structures society builds up around us. In harrowing detail, Amna shows us how those forces – tradition, patriarchy, capitalism – deform and fracture our inner lives so profoundly that imagination becomes as much a prison as it is a key. I’m in awe of this book’ Chris Knapp, author of States of Emergency ‘A gripping, troubling, masterful story. I could not put it down’ Aysegul Savas, author of The Anthropologists ‘A rare novel that dares to ask, what if women wanted more? … a sharp, unsentimental take on ambition, class and desire… encountering a character who will do everything in their power to change the trajectory of their life is intoxicating and refreshing. It makes it difficult to put the book down or to interrupt the flow of Tara’s lunging towards a greater life… Amna’s work stands out in the South Asian literary landscape’ Dawn