Maryam & Son – Mirza Waheed

Maryam and Son

A LITERARY NOVEL ABOUT MOTHERHOOD AND DESIRE, TOLD THROUGH THE COMPELLING PERSPECTIVE OF A MOTHER FORCED TO QUESTION EVERYTHING SHE BELIEVES ABOUT HER CHILD AND HERSELF.

Maryam Ali, a school chef and widow, finds her son’s bed empty one morning. At her sisters’ insistence, she reports him missing, hoping the police will find him, bring him home. Instead, government officials arrive with news that Dil might be far from London and involved in something unthinkable. As the days pass and the waiting becomes intolerable, Maryam retreats into the past, seeking answers for the present. She finds herself unexpectedly drawn to Julian, the young family liaison officer assigned to her case—a dangerous attraction that forces her to navigate between desire and the knowledge that he represents the very forces that have her son in their sights. As bombs fall on Mosul, Maryam must confront the ultimate question: how does a mother grieve a child who may have done terrible things?

A provocative novel of motherhood, family, desire, and the limits of knowing those we love most.

About the Author Mirza Waheed is a novelist and essayist. His debut novel, The Collaborator, was an international bestseller, finalist for the Guardian First Book Award and the Shakti Bhatt Prize, and longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize. His second novel, The Book of Gold Leaves (2014), was shortlisted for the DSC Prize and longlisted for the Folio Prize. His third novel, Tell Her Everything, won the Hindu Literary Prize in 2019. Maryam & Son is his fourth novel.

Waheed lives in London.