''Our Lady of Alice Bhatti'' (2011) is a novel by Pakistani author and journalist,

Mohammed Hanif Mohammed Hanif (born November 1964) is a British Pakistani writer and journalist who writes a monthly opinion piece in ''The New York Times.'' Hanif is the author of the critically acclaimed book ''A Case of Exploding Mangoes'', which was long ...

Plot

The story revolves around the everyday life of a Christian nurse working in a government hospital in the Pakistani city of

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

. The author explained that it was a love story, but some critics suggested that the novel is also a statement on the plight of religious minorities living in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Reception

It was shortlisted for the

Wellcome Trust Book Prize Wellcome Book Prize (2009–2019 — paused) is an annual British literary award sponsored by Wellcome Trust. In keeping with the vision and goals of Wellcome Trust, the Book Prize "celebrates the topics of health and medicine in literature", inc ...

(2012), and the

DSC Prize for South Asian Literature The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature is an international literary prize awarded annually to writers of any ethnicity or nationality writing about South AsiaNote: South Asia for the purposes of the prize is defined as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka ...

(2013).

References

External links

"Our Lady of Alice Bhatti by Mohammed Hanif"
''The Guardian'', 23 October 2011 2011 novels Pakistani novels Novels by Mohammed Hanif Jonathan Cape books Novels set in Karachi {{2010s-novel-stub