 First edition cover (US Hardback) | |
| Author | Ali Sethi |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | |
| Publisher | Riverhead Books (USA) Penguin Books (India) Hamish Hamilton (UK) |
Publication date | June 11, 2009 |
| Pages | 432 |
| ISBN | 978-1-59448-875-7 |
The Wish Maker is the first novel by Pakistani author Ali Sethi. Published in 2009 by Riverhead Books, it tells the story of Zaki Shirazi, a young boy from United States who returned to Lahore, Pakistan after finishing his studies to celebrate the wedding of his childhood friend Samar Api and observe a completely new Pakistan. The story is set against the backdrop of tumultuous events, from the Zia-ul-Haq reign to Zulfiqar Bhutto's execution and Benazir Bhutto elections, it also dictates United States help to Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan.
The Wish Maker has been often compared with Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, due to its similar tone to Hosseini's tale which depicts the pre-revolutionary Afghanistan with warmth and humour despite the tense political undercurrent. Sethi has commented that he considered the name of the book, The Wish Maker, "so important" because it describes "to what he was trying to say". The political themes, social concerns, family relationships and 90s' era of Lahore is prominent throughout the novel.