Bywater Books Set to Reissue Shamim Sarif’s The World Unseen and I Can’t Think Straight
ANN ARBOR, MI: Bywater Books, a leading feminist and lesbian publishing company, is pleased to announce the March 2017 reissue of the novels, The World Unseen and I Can’t Think Straight by award-winning author, director, and filmmaker, Shamim Sarif. “We’re honored to work with someone as talented as Shamim. Her novels and films open the door to our truest selves, and show us who we can be, if we dare,” said publisher Salem West.
The World Unseen transports us to 1950’s South Africa, where free-spirited Amina has broken all the rules of her own conventional Indian community, and the new apartheid-led government, by running a café with Jacob, her coloured business partner. When she meets Miriam, a young wife and mother, their unexpected attraction pushes Miriam to question the rules that bind her, and sets in motion a chain of events that changes both women forever. This stunning and elegant novel won both the Betty Trask Award and the Pendleton May First Novel Award.
I Can’t Think Straight, an unconventional romance, is a spirited tale about culture, tradition, and an undeniable love. Moving between the vast enclaves of Middle Eastern high society and the stunning backdrop of London’s West End, it deftly explores the clashes between East and West, love and marriage, and conventions and individuality, creating a humorous and tender story of unexpected love and unusual freedoms.
“I am completely delighted that The World Unseen and I Can’t Think Straight have found a home with Bywater Books,” says Sarif. “It means so much knowing that this dedicated and passionate team of women who are committed to diversity in literature is making them available for a new and ever-widening world of readers.”
SHAMIM SARIF is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter, and feature film director. Her works include the novels and films,
The World Unseen,
I Can’t Think Straight, and
Despite the Falling Snow; and the documentary,
The House of Tomorrow. She is currently working on the novel and film,
The Artemis Protocol. Sarif lives in London, England with her wife and two sons.
