Our Lady of Alice Bhatti

By: Mohammed Hanif

Narrated by: Nimra Bucha

The patients of the Sacred Heart Hospital need a miracle. Alice Bhatti may be just what they're looking for. She's just been released from the Borstal Jail. She's the daughter of a part-time healer, and it seems she has inherited his gift. With a bit of begrudging yet inspired improvisation, Alice begins to bring succor to the patients. But all is not miraculous.

Alice is a Christian in an Islamic world, ensnared in the red tape of hospital bureaucracy, torn between her duty to her patients, her father, and her husband - who is about to drag Alice into a situation so dangerous that perhaps not even a miracle will be able to save them. But, of course, Alice Bhatti is no ordinary young woman....

©2011 Mohammed Hanif (P)2011 WF Howe, Ltd

Critic reviews

"In this amusing novel, Hanif renders the intricacies and limitations of Pakistan's lowest rungs with humor and candor, allowing as little pity for his characters as they allow themselves." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Laced with humor, often ribald and iconoclastic, this is an insightful tale of pain and love, a story of a quest for humanity and grace in a desperate, chaotic society." ( Kirkus Reviews)

"Rambunctious, vulgar, funny and moving, Our Lady of Alice Bhatti wields enormous emotional punch..." ( Time)

A stunning tapestry of place, culture, character and story

This book is dazzling in its prose, and equally so for the performance. I think I'm going to listen to it again immediately.

Superb performance

A rare instance where the narrator greatly enhances one's experience of an otherwise mediocre book.