When the Fireflies Dance

In this hair-raising debut from Hassan, a family of indentured servants is torn apart in contemporary Pakistan. Work at the primitive brickworks is backbreaking for seven-year-old Lalloo’s parents. What’s more, usurious loans force entire generations to spend their lives trapped in a cycle of debt. When his older brother, Jugnu, speaks out against the exploitation, Jugnu is beaten to death by the overseer’s goons. Lalloo’s parents send him away for his safety, and he eventually becomes an apprentice to an auto mechanic. As a frightened and lonely young man, Lalloo yearns for love and has recurring nightmares about Jugnu’s death, which he witnessed and blames himself for—otherwise, why would his parents have sent him away? Meanwhile, his sisters Pinky and Shabnam toil in the brickworks. When the owner of the garage dies, Lalloo finds work as a chauffeur for a wealthy family and determines to finance Shabnam’s dowry, as she’d prefer an arranged marriage to servitude. What starts out as a stultifying tale of hopelessness becomes a fast-paced drama full of betrayals, escapes, intrigue, and self-sacrificing heroism. It’s enlivened by charming scenes of street life and the bazaar, stark contrasts between the lives of the well-to-do and the servant classes, and unforgettable villains and allies. Hassan proves herself a gifted storyteller. Agent: Hellie Ogden, Janklow and Nesbit Assoc. (Dec.)