The Centre
a dark, unsettling literary thriller about a mysterious language school with a sinister secret
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- €6.99
Publisher Description
Shortlisted for the Nota Bene Prize.
A dark and surreal literary thriller following an adrift Pakistani translator in London who attends a mysterious language school. It boasts complete fluency in just ten days, but at a secret, sinister cost . . .
'Black Mirror take on the world of language' – The Observer
'Absolutely stunning . . . thrilling and unique' - Gillian Flynn
'Creepy, provocative and wildly entertaining' - Emma Stonex
'A thrillingly ambitious literary chiller' - The Guardian
Anisa Ellahi longs to become a translator of 'great works of literature', but right now she is stuck in her London flat writing subtitles for Bollywood films.
Then she is told about the Centre, an elite, invite-only programme that guarantees complete fluency in any language in just ten days. Seduced by all that it could make possible, Anisa enrols. But the Centre's services come at a disturbing hidden cost. Still - it's worth it, right? After all, success comes at a price . . .
By turns dark, funny and surreal, The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi takes you on a journey through Karachi, London and New Delhi. Throughout it interrogates the sticky politics of language, translation and appropriation and asks: what price would you be willing to pay for success?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Manazir Siddiqi's ambitious debut packs insightful observations about racism, classism, and colonialism into a dark mystery involving translator Anisa Ellahi. Born into a wealthy family in Karachi, Pakistan, 35-year-old Anisa now lives in London and augments her lavish allowance by subtitling Bollywood films, though she dreams of a career translating literary works. At a translation conference, she meets Adam, a man who, despite his poor university marks, has parlayed his fluency in 10 languages into a well-paid career. The two begin dating, and after some badgering, Adam admits that "a super elite, super-secret" (and super expensive) language school called the Centre is responsible for his linguistic prowess. Seeing the school as her chance to make her dreams come true, Anisa signs a nondisclosure agreement and settles in for a 10-day stay at the Centre. As she learns more about the school's methodology and its employees, however, she fears she's made a terrible mistake. Anisa's perceptive narration propels the novel, and Manazir Siddiqi's sharp cultural analysis of England, Pakistan, and India deepens her devilish plot, though the ending is a bit of a letdown. Still, this marks Manazir Siddiqi as a writer to watch.
