The World Unseen [Paperback]

Shamim Sarif (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 13, 2010

In 1950s South Africa, apartheid is just becoming institutionalised. Free-spirited Amina has broken all the rules of her own conventional Indian community, and the new apartheid-led government, by running a café with Jacob her ‘coloured’ business partner. When she meets Miriam, a young traditional wife and mother, their unexpected attraction pushes Miriam to question the rules that bind her. When Amina helps Miriam's sister-in-law to hide from the police, a chain of events is set in motion that changes both women forever.

In a system that divides white from black and women from men, what chance is there for an unexpected love to survive?

Editorial Reviews

Review

            It is an impressive debut. Sarif's story brings together the descriptive power of the novelist with the screenwriter's mastery of dialogue."
--The Times

        "I read The World Unseen at a gulp, so entrancing is it's style, so complete it's tale of love and betrayal, and so accurate it's depiction of the physical, social and political scene..."
--Johannesburg Star - Book of the Week

   "Sarif's elegant and understated debut eschews emotional fireworks, and offers an unusual insight into early apartheid . . . a novel that lives up to its title"
--The Times - Play

   "In the tradition of Vikram Seth, Sarif throws down a literary gauntlet that very few writers will be able to pick and return with any conviction." Pride

--Pride

   "This is a stylishly written work. Sarif is near faultless."
--India Weekly --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Shamim Sarif recently directed the motion picture adaptation of I Can’t Think Straight. She is also the writer/director of the award-winning feature film, The World Unseen, which is based on her novel of
the same name. She has won several Best Director Awards including a prestigious SAFTA award.
The book of The World Unseen won the Pendleton May First Novel Award and a Betty Trask
Award. She is the author of a further novel, Despite the Falling Snow. She lives in London with her partner Hanan and their two children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Enlightenment (April 13, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0956031609
• ISBN-13: 978-0956031600
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #411,958 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Writer/director Shamim Sarif is one of the rare renaissance women of recent years. She is an equally successful author (the Pendleton May First Novel Award, Betty Trask Award), screenwriter and film director (World Cinema Best Director at Phoenix Film Festival, and Best Director at Clip (Tampa) Intl. Film Festival). She is an author of several published short stories and notable music lyrics, has script-edited a children's TV series and directed music videos. Shamim received an Afterellen.com 2008 VISIBLITY AWARD as "International Lesbian/Bi Woman of the Year".

An acclaimed novelist, Shamim has deep roots in South Africa, where her parents and grandparents were born and raised - a heritage that inspired her first, award-winning novel, The World Unseen.

The World Unseen won the Pendleton May First Novel Award, and then the prestigious Betty Trask Award. It was selected for inclusion at all the major UK book festivals, including Hay-on-Wye, Cheltenham and Edinburgh and sold out of its initial print runs.

Johannesburg's leading newspaper, The Star, voted the book one of their books of the year. The Times in London called it "an impressive debut. Sarif's story brings together the descriptive power of the novelist with the screenwriter's mastery of dialogue."

Her second novel, Despite the Falling Snow' was published in London by Hodder Headline in May 2004 and received overwhelmingly excellent reviews. In the autumn of 2005, the novel was released by American publisher St Martin's Press. Shamim has adapted this moving tale set in cold war Russia and present day United States into a screenplay.

Shamim began her studies in directing at Raindance in London. Her recently published novel I Can't Think Straight served as an inspiration for her directorial debut of the same name. An urban romantic comedy based on Shamim's script and starring Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth, the movie follows the improbable love affair between two women of very differing cultures. Reviewed by CherryGrrl recently as 'a brilliantly executed, romantic, sexy, and heart-warming page-turner.'

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lyrical Prose, February 1, 2009

By 

ionstyn (Clarksburg, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World Unseen (Paperback)

Shamim Sarif appears to possess the gift of writing verse as prose and the world unseen is a fine example of this lyricism. This is not great literature but it certainly is an easy read (I read it in a single sitting), drawing you in to empathize with the characters, rooting for them to succeed. It is a captivating book and I would highly recommend reading it.

At its core is the restrained love story between Amina and Miriam, both astonished by the intensity of their feelings and the common need to break out of their oppressive worlds. It is a story of opposites - of repression and expression, questioning tradition and blind acceptance, of courage and fear, of integrity and deceit, of finding a voice and finally of choices. What really evolves from this story are these broader themes, more universal in their appeal, underscored by each of its remarkable characters as small actions either in defiance of apartheid or convention, an arcane custom or simply humor in the face of adversity. This is possibly the book's greatest strength.

Sarif is smart enough to leave an open ending relative to the era. However, there's a strong argument for a more definitive ending - one that gives the reader some greater assurance of the relationship between these women surviving.

Perhaps the movie offers some better form of closure.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!, December 21, 2008

By 

J. Will - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The World Unseen (Paperback)

I absolutely loved this book. Shamim has such developed characters and I love how she writes one chapter through one persons point of view, then the following in another, it really helps to understand what is going on. Its easy to follow along, and I read it in two long sittings, you won't be disspointed I promise!

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book!, November 28, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: World Unseen (Paperback)

Sucks you right in. Amazing characters that stay with you long after the book is over. Written with style, yet easy to read! i highly recommend this book!