Corner Shop

Roopa Farooki

St. Martin's Griffin

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There are only two tragedies in life. One is not getting your heart's desire - and the other? Getting it. Fourteen-year-old Lucky Khalil has a destiny – worse than a destiny, he has a dream. He dreams that one day, he will win the World Cup for England . It torments him, because it tastes real, because when he wakes he weeps with disappointment that it is just a dream. Meanwhile, Lucky’s mother Delphine seems to have had all her dreams come true, but feels trapped in her apparently perfect marriage.  She fantasizes about rediscovering the freedom of her youth, but rekindling a relationship with her maverick father-in-law, Zaki, can only end in disaster.  Zaki, a charming gambler who loved and lost Delphine long before she married his successful son, feels equally trapped in the corner shop he has run for years.  He wonders if the time has come to abandon his responsibilities, to try once more to achieve his own dreams.

As each of the Khalils discovers in Roopa Farooki’s beautifully written and richly layered tale, the closer one's dreams become, the easier it is to lose sight of what really matters.

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Reviews

Praise for Corner Shop

Praise for Corner Shop:
“Aspirations and family ties play out across three generations of the Khalil family in Farooki's fine new novel (after Bitter Sweets)…. [A] flawed yet likable cast… question what, exactly, leads to a more fulfilled life. This character- and culture-rich novel will appeal to Jhumpa Lahiri and Zadie Smith fans looking for quainter fare.” --Publishers Weekly

 

“Farooki's characters are convincingly complex… While her first novel, Bitter Sweets, was called "enjoyably breezy" (New York Times), this work has a depth to it that requires more substantial adjectives. Highly recommended.” –Library Journal

 

“A complex exploration of the ever-changing nature of wants and desires and the consequences of achieving one’s dreams, Farooki’s tale eschews easy answers for the complex, appealing characters that people its pages.” –Booklist

 

"A winner... [the] characters are imperfect yet loveable, full of life but confused, annoying in their own ways while tremendously charming. One can’t help but feel like a confidant as family crises, friction, achievements, disappointments, and realizations unfold.... [This] comic and poignant novel conjures questions that come back to tease and haunt the reader." --India Currents magazine

 
Praise for Bitter Sweets:
“By the end of this enjoyably breezy book it becomes clear that Ms. Farooki has been maneuvering her characters toward a major showdown. She contrives a twist of fate that will drag their hidden lives into the light."
-Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“Fast-paced and populated with characters as colorful as a closetful of saris."
–People
“Roopa Farooki’s delicious debut novel…is a candy apple of a book, an alluring confection that is substantial and healthful at its heart….This book…is simply, shrewdly sweet.”
–More magazine
“Farooki pulls off a lightly spun epic tale with effortless charm and more than enough delightful twists to keep pages turning. Even the characters’ most unexpected and disastrous choices seem somehow inevitable, and one is quickly resigned to rooting for the wily woman at the center.”
–Publishers Weekly

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About the Author

Roopa Farooki

Roopa Farooki was born in Lahore, Pakistan, and brought up in London.  She graduated from New College, Oxford in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and worked in advertising before writing fiction full time.  Roopa now lives in Southeast England and Southwest France with her husband and two young sons, and teaches creative writing at the Canterbury Christ Chuch University masters program.  Visit her online at www.roopafarooki.com. 

Roopa Farooki

Roopa Farooki

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Available Formats and Book Details

Corner Shop
Roopa Farooki

Trade Paperback

Trade Paperback
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Griffin
March 2010
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9780312577872
ISBN10: 0312577877
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 384 pages
$14.99

Hardcover

Learn more about this edition
Hardcover
St. Martin's Press
February 2009
Hardcover
ISBN: 9780312375560
ISBN10: 0312375565
6 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches, 368 pages
$24.95

e-Book Agency

Learn more about this edition
e-Book Agency
St. Martin's Press
February 2009
e-Book Agency
ISBN: 9781429989114
ISBN10: 1429989114
6 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches, 368 pages
$6.99
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