3.5 stars!

I think the best way to describe this book would be: secrets, secrets, and more secrets.

This book follows the story of Rozeena, alternating between her time as a young girl fleeing India after the Partition, in Karachi, Pakistan in 1964, and in present day 2019.

In present day 2019, an old childhood friend asks her to take in his teenage granddaughter on an “internship” to help her heal from the death of her brother. However, Rozeena is reluctant and full of fear that the secrets of her past, particularly those that may affect her son, will come spilling it out by reconnecting with her friend in anyway.

We start to learn about what happened in 1964 that Rozeena is so desperate to not have resurface in chapters that flashback to the time immediately leading up to and after an event that changed everything Rozeena and her three childhood friends. These chapters also reveal secrets from the horrible events in the Partition, including about her own family and her friends’ families.

This book was pretty slow to start and I had a hard time getting into it. However, once that first domino fell midway through the book, secrets started to be revealed left and right. I couldn’t put the book down because it was so interwoven between characters, and I couldn’t wait to learn the whole story of what happened in 1964.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Publishing Group for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Under the Tamarind Tree is a beautiful story of love and secrets. Rozeena Masood and her family are forced to flee from Delhi to Karachi because of Partition. In Pakistan, she meets three friends and neighbors whose stories culminate in a deadly secret when she is a young woman in 1964. In 2019, out of the blue, Rozeena receives a phone call from one of her childhood friends asking Rozeena to allow their granddaughter to come "intern" for her after the girl has suffered the loss of her brother. The book bounces back and forth between 1964 and 2019, telling the story of many family losses, secrets and sacrifices.

Rozeena is a strong female lead and I love that her character shows growth even though she's in her 80s in 2019. I felt transported to Karachi reading this book; I loved all of the culture and history woven into this story.

The book does start off a bit slow (just keep going, don't worry) and references secrets from pretty early on. I had the fear that it would be one of those books that makes you read the entire thing just to reveal a very underwhelming secret, but it did not disappoint. The secrets were big and there were many!

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the opportunity to read this e-ARC.

A story of enduring love.
This book follows a family and their neighbors and friends before and after multiple tragic events in their lives.
We are transported back and forth from 1964 to 2019 throughout the novel.
Rozeena is a strong female lead who truly wants the best for those in her life and strives her entire life to make that happen.

For me this book did start somewhat slow, but give it a chance. The story is definitely worth it.
This story takes place in Pakistan and for me it was a refreshing dive into this culture. I loved learning about the clothing, terms of endearment, and Partition while reading this story.

So much changes.
We lose so much in our lives.
But love remains.

I really enjoyed this book- it was smart, well-written, had engaging characters and a mystery too. the 1964 and 2019 timelines blended well

Under the Tamarind Tree by Nigar Alam begins in 1964 in Karachi, Pakistan. Rozeena is struggling to build her medical practice and save her family home. Her parents fled India during the Partition of India. Since her father passed away, Rozeena takes on the responsibility of being the head of household.

Haaris, Aalya, and Zohair are all close friends of Rozeena. Aalya and Zohair have been meeting secretly – sometimes under the Tamarind tree. They are working on a way to become engaged. Rozeena and Haaris are also in love and hope to be married eventually. It seems that money and social status affects all of their potential marriages. No one could just marry the one that they loved. It wasn’t easy to love the one they were with either.

Unfortunately, Waleed follows Aalya to the rooftop of her house on the night of Haaris’s party. Zohair is close behind and a fight ensues. Waleed and Zohair fall off of the roof. Rozeena, Aalya and Haaris witness the incident and swear to keep the truth a secret. The only thing that people know is that Waleed did not survive and Zohair is critically injured.

Only one person finds out the truth – Waleed’s estranged widow, Kulsoom. She blackmails Haaris and Rozeena into keeping her secrets. If they keep her secret and do a few major tasks, then she will keep their secret about the party.

None of their lives are the same after that night but Haaris and Rozeena do what they have to do to protect their family and friends.

Years later in 2019, Rozeena is asked to look after Haaris’s granddaughter after a family tragedy. Zara, the granddaughter, and Rozeena strike up a friendship that helps them both with their feelings of loss. Their friendship seems authentic and sweet. It is one of my favorite things about the book.

Under the Tamarind Tree Recommendation
If you enjoy mysteries and secrets, then you will probably enjoy Under the Tamarind Tree. If you are a Petty Spaghetti who can’t sacrifice anything for anybody, then you should read Under the Tamarind Tree so you can learn what love is.

The best part about this book is its power to transport readers of Western civilizations into a world that's primarily depicted as diametrically opposed to Western culture.

When reading Under the Tamarind Tree - I was immediately drawn in by a sense of 'otherness' and a desire to learn and understand the character's motivations. Following the story of Rozeena and her childhood friends through political turbulent times in Pakistan during the 60s - I found myself loving how these women endured despite traumatic circumstances and still valued their friendships many years later.

Tales of women supporting women will ALWAYs be a win in my book!!

Also - Yay for my first Middle Eastern-authored book! Over the years, it's been widely covered in both media and print that Judeo-Christian and Muslim/Islamic societies are essentially oil and water. Reading books about cultures vastly different than my own has been a goal of mine since I started reading more in the last few years as an adult. Specifically, because I believe we should respect each other's differences - but it's INCREDIBLY hard to do that if you know nothing about someone's heritage/culture. Under the Tamarind Tree provides an opportunity to peek into a world unknown to many!

This book broke my heart, but in the best way possible. The writing was so amazingly descriptive and the story was engaging. The writing style is a little disjointed but there are only a few writers I have found that really nail jumps of time in a plot. I was still able to keep up and understand where I was.

Thank you for providing me an ARC!

I enjoy books set in non-US locations. I want to learn about the cultures, the settings and the histories. I was excited to start Under the Tamarind Tree because it took place during the partition of Pakistan and India. Unfortunately,, this book was not compelling for me. I couldn't engage with the characters. I liked the structure, going back and forth between 1964 and current day. The prose was simplistic and the story was too slow. I love to support women authors that find their voice later in life. I wish her success.

Thanks to Net Galley and Penguin Random House for the advanced reader copy.

The cover of this book drew me right in, and the title had me intrigued. I enjoyed the second half of the book very much, but I nearly stopped reading at about 40% because it was taking so long to get to the big events of the book. I am glad I stuck with it. Once the big event finally occurs, there are several veins of "How will they get out of this now?" to keep the reader turning the page.

For readers who are looking for face-paced drama, this is not going to be for you. There are many chapters telling you how many days you are away from the life-changing event for the main character, Rozeena. Some build-up to that is necessary, but it was more than I needed. If you approach it as literary fiction that evolves and develops at a different pace, that will serve you better.

The novel begins with the child Rozeena and her family escaping to new Pakistan during the violent first days after Pakistan and India were divided along religious lines by Britain before they left control of the area. Then the story floats back and forth between an old Rozeena trying to avoid the consequences of an event from her young adult days and chapters set back in time with that young adult Rozeena and the events (most she has zero control over) that would shape her future.

If you enjoy glances into another culture and what makes it tick (in this case Pakistani culture), there are gems throughout this novel that involve a world it's hard for Americans (who do pretty much whatever we please and marry whomever we want) to understand.

If you don't know much about the horrific time of Partition that is wrapped around all the main events of this novel, I highly recommend "The Night Diary" by Veera Hiranandani. It is written for younger readers, but that doesn't mean it won't get the message across of what those days were like.

Taking place in 1960s Pakistan at the onset, as the Partition is looming,,Niger Alam has captured the sense of frenzy at a time when people had to relocate and reimagine their. lives. The story opens with the focus on teen aged Rozeena and her three friends, caught up in the disappointment and uncertainty confronting them. Can Rozeena fulfill her dream of becoming a physician? What about the future that seemed so clear to two young romantics before lives changed?
Then, unexpectedly, at a party, an unimaginable tragedy occurred and nothing will ever be the same.
The story is told in two points of time, taking the reader on a ride to the future where the American granddaughter of one friend is sent to Pakistan to spend time with Rozeena. It is then that past secrets are uncovered and with them old hurts.
Written in beautifully descriptive prose, Under the Tamarind Tree is the sad story of unrequited love and a world that keeps moving forward even when circumstances prevent people from moving in the same direction. Knowing very little of the historical significance and impact on the Indian and Pakistani people, I felt transported to a time and place that was new to me. Four well deserved stars for this poignant work of historical fiction. My thanks to NetGalley and Putnam books for proving an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for providing me the opportunity to review “Under the Tamarind Tree”. I am appreciative and leave my sincerity review voluntarily.

Four friends face the challenges of growing older in a culture that's ruled by "what would people say?" Now their time together is not as simple as it had been before, and falls under different scrutiny than it did when they were children. When a terrible tragedy occurs, it causes them to ask the question: what matters more? Reputation, or the truth?

Survivors of Partition, a moment in history I knew nothing about until reading this, their lives are shaped by the events that occurred on their flee from India to Pakistan when the Radcliffe Line was drawn. Family members were lost, and secrets have been kept buried, until now. The loss of her brother Faysal was a big factor in our main character, Rozeena's life. It changed the way she looked at herself, feeling that she now had to live the life her brother had lost.

The loss of a brother is what brings together Rozeena and Zara in current day. Under the guise of a gardening internship, the now old woman and young teen meet, but soon realize gardening isn't the real reason behind their meeting. Instead, they both share the same grief, the same loss of identity that comes with losing a family member. And since their meeting was arranged by her old friend Haaris, it brings up memories of the last time she saw him, and the events that surrounded that time.

This one stayed with me, and kept me up long after the last page was finished. It hurt. The feelings wouldn't just go away, be packaged neatly and put back on the shelf. For me, that's what reading is all about. I highly recommend this book to anyone, not just those who enjoy historical fiction and getting glimpses of history and cultures they've rarely experienced before. To anyone who loves books, and the emotions they call upon.

Thank you to the publishers for providing me with a copy through NetGalley.

Thanks to Putnam Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is an intricately plotted book that depicts the lives of Rozeena (her name means “daily wages”) and three of her friends/neighbors. They have survived Partition, three of them having fled to Pakistan where the story is set.

Two main themes are prevalent. One, a solution or response to a problem can and often leads to a worse problem. Two, no one knows all that is going on in any one situation or occurrence. And thus we act with a limited and skewed idea of what took place and its impact. These two dynamics tumble and bump into one another over and over. Partition is the macro event; and in this title, Rozee and her friends feed into and react on the micro level.

The story has a soap opera feel. The characters are often obligated or oppressed by societal/cultural notions. And they sacrifice to remain within these confines while achieving some personal goal. The sacrifices seem over-the-top and therein lies the soap opera. However, the story here is compelling and certainly held my attention.

The writing is straightforward—plain and not particularly stylized. But this has the effect of making the story and the trajectory of the events bolder. And the emotionality is definitely there and at times striking and wrenching.

I would recommend this title and I would like to see what other works this author crafts.

A quote:

“She wonders if he knows of her life as it is now, of how the days that never used to have enough hours, now have the longest minutes she’s ever lived….”

"Under the Tamarind Tree" opens in present day Karachi, Pakistan in 2019. Rozeena is living out her older years tending the garden in her home, when she receives a call from an old friend, one she hasn't talked to in many years, asking her for a favor. Haaris' granddaughter Zara is trying to be a Maali and as an informal "internship", he asks that Rozeena let her help out with her gardens for the summer. Haltingly, Rozeena agrees, especially after learning that Zara has recently lost her brother in a car accident, recalling the loss of her own brother decades earlier.

The novel jumps between 2019 to 1964, when Rozeena and Haaris are younger and friends with Zohair and Aalaya, who live in the same building and have developed feelings for each other. We learn of the recent partition between India and Pakistan, and how each of them have been impacted by the massive geopolitical change. Each of these friends live in vastly different circumstances as well, and Nigar Alam slowly sets up the differing classes and castes in Karachi at the time, and how limiting the interactions can be, especially for women. As the story continues, more and more is revealed about the past and how it affected the present - including the strained and distant relationship between Rozeena and Haaris.

I thoroughly enjoyed Alam's writing throughout the novel, and how she slowly and patiently built up her characters and their backstories. The friendship that grew between Rozeena and Zara felt genuine, and the dialogue flowed naturally. As someone who didn't have much background into the events of the Partition, there was enough context provided to give readers an understanding of the event and the repercussions for civilians in the years to follow. While I personally found that there were too many flips between the past and present, I was still able to follow along with the storyline and events, despite the number of characters that are introduced.

A beautifully woven story about the sacrifices we make for our loved ones, and the repercussions those decisions can have decades later.

“under the taramind tree” is a masterpiece. nigar alam has written a wonderful debut novel that takes place in both pakistan in the early days after the trauma of partition as well as present day 2019. rozeena loses her brother during partition, and her family never quite recovers. she makes a promise to treat a young girl, aayla, like her sister. as rozeena grows up and starts working as a doctor, aayla seems to be hanging around the wrong kind of men. something particularly cruel happened that made haaris leave pakistan for america, and rozeena laments over it for most of her life. in 2019, haaris’s granddaughter zara has just lost her brother to a car accident and is sent off to karachi to be rozeena’s maali. they tend the garden and zara starts asking questions, curious about what truly happened during partition and what life was like in pakistan for her grandfather. dark family secrets are revealed, but old friendships are rekindled, as the past comes to light.

full of wonderfully interesting characters with so much pain in their hearts, this debut is an emotional rollercoaster with the beautiful backdrop of karachi. alam has crafted a story that spans generations and captivates the reader at every turn. from the gardens, to the rooftops, to the little milk shops, there is much to appreciate. while it can feel a bit slow in some moments, the pacing is well done for the majority of the novel. watching the relationship between rozeena and zara bloom was absolutely heartwarming.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

This novel takes place in 2019 and during and after the Partition of India and Pakistan, following the life of Rozeena, a rare woman doctor who, facing catastrophe multiple times, moves from paralysis through indecision to courage in assisting others. While the framing story set in the present is perhaps a little too identical to the story that takes place during Partition, the primary plot, told in short flashbacks, is compelling.

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons, for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As the summary states, this is a story of Rozeena, her friends, and what transpired during Partition. I was not that familiar with the topic so I was excited to read this. Overall, this is a beautiful and heartbreaking story of 4 friends in Pakistan after the Partition of India and Pakistan. Traveling back and forth in time with Rozeena as she reconnects with her old childhood friends was very well done and such a culturally rich and engaging experience.

I agree with some reviewers that the past vs current timelines occasionally caused some confusion in the story and with the characters for me, but not enough for me to stop reading, so I encourage you to dive into this one as its well worth it.

Highly recommend.

I tried to read it but it’s not for me. The writing style seems too young adult to me. There are so many characters mentioned with difficult names hard to keep track. I’m sorry but I can’t see finishing this

I just couldn’t get into this one but it was a very well researched novel.

Thank you NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons Publishing for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review which is not affiliated with any brand.

We’re recovering from being very sick in our house so today is just a lazy relaxing day, and I’m all for it. I hope to be able to finish the book I started yesterday and maybe start another.

Under the Tamarind Tree follows four friends who are tied together from one night, and countless secrets. Rozeena is running out of time and if her medical practice doesn’t take off she’ll lose her home. Success comes at a price though. One fateful night one, when she and three friends are together, someone ends up dead, and the life they took for granted is in shatters. Now years later, Rozeena gets a call from one of those friends, who she hasn’t heard from in about 40 years. The call leads to secrets being unearthed and those secrets might just ruin everything Rozeena has worked so hard for.

This one was a great atmospheric read that held me captive. This book highlights generational trauma and the lengths people go to protect the ones they love. I enjoyed reading about the history and culture that I am not very familiar with. The pacing of this one was a bit slow and felt that it faltered along at times. There were several times when I wondered why I was reading something because it didn’t fit with the flow of the story. The storyline was also pretty predictable, but if you can look past that and are looking to learn about this wonderful culture then pick this one up. It’s a great work of literary fiction.

This one came to me via request of the publisher, Penguin Group Putman, and I’m happy I picked it up on @netgalley. This one is out August 15th of next year.