House Number 12 Block Number 3 has been named the GOLD MEDAL Multicultural Book of the Year in Foreword Reviews‘ prestigious 2021 Foreword INDIES Awards!
Join Hidden Shelf Publishing House and Pakistani-American author Sana Balagamwala in donating to The Citizen’s Foundation to support communities affected by the devastating floods in Pakistan.
We will be donating a portion of the sales of the novel, House Number 12 Block Number 3 during the month of September, please partner with us in these efforts!
The Citizen’s Foundation is an organization with a legacy of building schools and providing education to the underprivileged children of Pakistan. During this time, many of the schools built by this organization are serving as shelters, and TCF has stepped in to direct its resources to focus on immediate flood relief and to provide meals, rebuild homes, and rehabilitate schools.
If walls could talk.
In this utterly original novel, a family house narrates a decade of secrets amidst Pakistan’s political turmoil.
House Number 12 Block Number 3
Karachi, Pakistan (20th century) – Nadia has changed. She has been waking up in the middle of the night in fits of anxiety, avoiding her friends and family, and skipping her university classes. With the recent death of her father, Haji Rahmat, Nadia’s condition has further spiraled. There is no acceptable diagnosis for her behavior, and speculations abound: she may have a rare disease, she may be possessed by a jinn, or perhaps she is inclined to madness. Whatever the cause of this mysterious affliction, Zainab, Nadia’s mother, is at pains to keep it hidden from the community at large; she is worried Nadia will be labeled as mad, and she knows all too well the taboos that mental illness brings with it.
While the country tethers on political unrest, and Nadia seems to get worse by the day, the family searches desperately for the cause of, and the cure for their daughter’s mysterious malady.
House Number 12 Block Number 3, the home that has sheltered the Rahmat family for decades, narrates and recollects past events, trying to absolve itself of the burden it feels of being privy to the real reason for Nadia’s turmoil, but not being able to do anything about it.
PUBLICATION DETAILS
Categories: Fiction, Family, Women
PAPERBACK
2021, pp. 208, paperback
ISBN: 978-1-955893-90-9
EBOOK
2021, ebook
ISBN: 978-1-955893-05-3
KINDLE EBOOK
ISBN: 978-1-7354145-8-4
REVIEWS
“An utterly original work of art and soul.” –Karen Karbo, NYT best selling author of Yeah, No, Not Happening and In Praise of Difficult Women
“Sana Balagamwala’s language is rich in texture, lyrical and nuanced in scope, as she explores gender roles, social status, and political upheaval against the backdrop of a young girl’s pain.” –Deborah Reed, author of Things We Set on Fire
“Gentle, evocative; an assured debut on a subject that has been swept under the rug for far too long.” –Sanam Maher, Journalist and Author of A Woman Like Her: The Story Behind the Honor Killing of a Social Media Star
Meet The Author
Sana Balagamwala
Sana Balagamwala grew up in Karachi, Pakistan. She studied English Literature and Language at the University of Southern California, and has a Master’s in Education from Loyola Marymount University. She is also pursuing a Master’s in Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge.
House Number 12 Block Number 3 is her first novel. Before embarking on her writing career, she taught Middle School History and Literature. Sana loves old buildings, avoids lizards, and appreciates a good cup of coffee. She lives in Los Angeles, California.
Learn more at www.sanabalagamwala.com
