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The debut novel by Nigar Alam, “Under the Tamarind Tree,” is a story of four friends and unearthed secrets, but it can be viewed through the lens of relationships and the broad encompassing aspect of connection.

That was at the heart of Alam’s presentation Thursday night at the Austin Public Library during the Austin Page Turner’s author talk, part of its annual City Wide Read now in its 23rd year.

“I feel I learned that regardless of our background we really are the same,” Alam said as she related her time growing up. “Same fears. Same desires. To communicate in a human way.”

The book itself focuses around Rozeena at two different moments in time — 1964 Karachi, Pakistan and 2019. Along the way Rozeena’s time is threaded through by the lives of her childhood best friends. Later in her life, secrets will come into play that might ruin those things Rozeena had been protecting.

Alam told those in attendance that the book’s journey came from a desire to know more about her parents and their parents during Partition, the moment in 1947 when the British Empire split British India into India and Pakistan.

During this moment in time, over 15 million people were displaced and over one million died.

“The idea for the book came from a desire to know more about my parent’s lives and their parents before and after Partition,” she said. “My parents were a part of that.”

Alam further elaborated on the effects something like this might have on the younger generation.

“I wanted to examine what happens to children when they go through such a traumatic event,” she said.

To form the building blocks of the story, Alam said that she turned to family, not to contribute narrative to the story, but to get a better understanding of the event, however, she found that there was a reluctance to talk about that period.

What’s more, Alam found that it wasn’t just her family and that many wanted to “just look ahead.” 

She turned to a pair of projects that were dedicated to gathering these stories and through it all, Alam was able to get a picture of what Partition was like.

“I understood my family wasn’t weird,” Alam said. “I understood where they were coming from. My hope is that talking about this has healed them a little bit.”

The connection aspect is interwoven throughout the narrative, with Alam saying that she hopes that people can see how we’re all connected as humans and readers.

She touched back on that point when she explained how the book might not have come to be if she and her family hadn’t been living in Minnesota. Alam herself has lived in several different places around the world throughout her life, but she has lived in Minnesota for the past 18 years.

Alam discovered just how book-friendly the state is.

“This book, for me, was born in this state,” Alam said. “In my mind this book doesn’t exist if it’s not here. Minnesota is extremely bookish.”

Alam’s visit and all of those activities featured during the City Wide Read has once again opened up a wider view of reading within the community for residents and Page Turners members alike.

In a lot of ways it further establishes the idea of connections.

“The City Wide Read has always been important for the library,” said Executive Director Julie Clinefelter. “This is a great way to get the community together. It’s a way to get the community to the library. It’s a nice collaborative piece.”

In particular, Clinefelter said that Page Turners members felt the book was a natural fit for Austin because of the diversity inherent to the pages of the book and the diversity inherent to Austin. It further emphasises connection.

“I think one of the things we like is that the book is about Pakistan,” she said. “It brings to life that there is a whole world out there. The Partition in Pakistan, most people don’t know about that.”
“The Page Turners liked that diversity piece,” she added.