Summary

“Lily - Islamabad,” pages 169 – 189 begins as one night, while Leila, a late twenties party girl who is known as Lily to her friends, is at yet another party with the same too familiar people (including the party’s host, Mino). Lily finds herself in a surprising conversation with an attractive man, Murad. Their dialogue, both flirtatious and sometimes unexpectedly serious, includes a reference to Murad being connected to a well-to-do family, and leaves Lily intrigued enough to give him her cell phone number, but not interested in actively pursuing any kind of relationship. Narration reveals that she is the daughter of a well-off “feudal” (173) Pakistani family; that she has angrily alienated her parents; and that a few months before this particular party, she had a near-death experience in a drunken car crash that led her to spend a significant amount of time in...