Seventeen years have passed since the publication of Daniyal Mueenuddin’s sensational debut collection of linked stories, “In Other Rooms, Other Wonders.” A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the book drew legitimate comparisons to Tolstoy in its depiction of the full range of feudal society in contemporary Pakistan, from wealthy landowners to estate and field workers, and middle managers, schemers and dreamers in between. The structure of the narrative, the depth of the characters, the exquisite prose, the vivid, capacious sense of place were also reminiscent of Edward P. Jones’s sublime stories set in Washington. A new book by a writer who keeps such company is worth any wait.
