SAIMA MIR author of THE KHAN talks to Paul Burke about her debut novel, her unforgettable characters Jia and Akbar Khan, being a journalist, Bradford, family, sexism, racism and how to navigate the world.

THE KHAN: Successful London lawyer Jia Khan is a long way from the grubby Northern streets she knew as a child, where her father, Akbar Khan, led the Pakistani community and ran the local organised crime syndicate. Often his Jirga rule - the old way - was violent and bloody, but it was always justice of a kind.
Now, with her father murdered, Jia must return to take his place. The police have always relied on the Khan to maintain the fragile order of the streets. But a bloody power struggle has broken out among warring communities and nobody is safe.
Justice needs to be restored, and Jia is about to discover that justice always comes at a cost.

Saima Mir has written for The Times, Guardian and Independent. Her essay for It's Not About The Burqa (Picador) appeared in Guardian Weekend and received over 250,000 hits online in two days. She has also contributed to the anthology The Best, Most Awful Job: Twenty Mothers Talk Honestly About Motherhood. Saima grew up in Bradford and now lives in London.

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Produced by Jem&Son and Paul Burke.
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