Daniyal Mueenuddin

Spanning six decades, This Is Where the Serpent Lives is an expansive portrait of contemporary Pakistan, where wealth, privilege and inherited social hierarchies shape the destinies of generations. At its centre is Yazid, an orphan who rises from poverty on the streets of Rawalpindi to become a trusted chauffeur in the household of a powerful landowning family. Around him, the lives of aristocrats, servants, ambitious farmers and young lovers intersect across Pakistan’s chaotic cities and feudal countryside. Saqib, the son of a poor gardener, receives an opportunity to manage a new agricultural enterprise, but his determination to improve his position leads him into dangerous territory. Meanwhile, rivalries, romantic entanglements and political corruption threaten the fragile order maintained by the wealthy elite. Through a richly interconnected cast of characters, Mueenuddin examines the price of ambition and the ways class, money and power perpetuate inequality. The novel offers an intimate, unsparing view of a society caught between changing aspirations and deeply entrenched traditions.