This is Where the Serpent Lives
‘Set to be a standout novel of 2026’ (Guardian) from a prizewinning ‘literary magician’ (The Times)
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This is Where the Serpent Lives
Narrated by:
Daniyal Mueenuddin
Buy Now for ₹611.00
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Narrated by:
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Daniyal Mueenuddin
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Written by:
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Daniyal Mueenuddin
Intimate and epic, elegiac and profoundly moving: a tour de force destined to become a classic of contemporary literature
Moving from Pakistan’s sophisticated cities to its most rural farmlands, This Is Where the Serpent Lives captures the extraordinary proximity of extreme wealth to extreme poverty in a land where fate is determined by class and social station.
Daniyal Mueenuddin’s This Is Where the Serpent Lives paints a powerful portrait of contemporary feudal Pakistan and a farm on which the destinies of a dozen unforgettable characters are linked through violence and love, resilience, and tragedy. Yazid rises from abject poverty to the role of trusted servant to an affluent gangster; Saqib, an errand boy, is eventually trusted to lead his boss’s new farming venture, where he becomes determined to rise above his rank by any means necessary. Saqib’s boss, the wealthy landowner Hisham, reminisces about meeting his wife while she was dating his brother while Gazala, a young teacher, falls for Saqib and his bold promises for their future before learning about his plans to skim money from the farm’s profits.
In matters of both business and the heart, Mueenuddin’s characters struggle to choose between the paths that are moral and the paths that will allow them to survive the systems of caste, capital, and social power that so tightly grip their country.©2026 Daniyal Mueenuddin (P)2026 Penguin Random House LLC
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Critic Reviews
Set to be a standout novel of 2026 ... Brutal, funny and brilliantly told ... Mueenuddin’s writing is always fluent and often very funny. He brings the smells and tastes of Pakistan to vibrant life; the birds and trees feel as present as the weight of history and the impossible tangles within tangles of corruption and responsibility ... The portrayals are immediate, the storytelling instantly involving (PATRICK GALE)
A multigenerational epic set in Pakistan. This novel spans decades, exploring class, privilege and ambition
Mueenuddin’s first novel is panoramic, encompassing multiple characters, strikingly varied geographical and social milieux and critical moments in the history of Pakistan
Here is a rare political novel, one animated by curiosity about how power actually works. In tracing the history of a Pakistani family and their dependants over six decades, Daniyal Mueenuddin adroitly illuminates not just a complicated country but its moral framework too
A startling and breathtaking work of fiction that will be remembered as a classic multigenerational epic
Mueenuddin’s powerfully absorbing novel charts the intricate interplay between landowners and their servants in a feudal Pakistan
A marvellous, richly layered study of class and power and culture in Pakistan from the 60s almost into the present – as rich as a nineteenth-century novel in its psychological subtlety and the confident scope of its stories
Mueenuddin offers a profound meditation on identity, class and privilege in a deeply conservative and patriarchal society ... A masterful storyteller, bringing together beautifully realised characters and a compelling plot
Expect to see this epic novel all over prize lists in 2026 ... Mueenuddin is a sort of literary magician ... It’s a rich stew of kindness betrayed and moral ambiguity that makes the reader angry and helpless; lots to think about, lots to feel
These are absorbing studies of class, caste and character; of mores and manners; with greed, corruption and entitlement pulsing throughout. There’s a poised, timeless quality to the masterful storytelling, which – travelling as it does between parched farms, opulent salons and the immensity of the Pakistani landscape – makes this feel at once like a classic
An extraordinary book that had me on the edge of my seat (TOBY JONES)
This is brilliant: a beautifully written, original, modern, vivid, beautiful, heartbreaking yet brutal novel of power & feudalism in Pakistan ... An instant classic ... the best modern novel I've read for a while (SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE)
All the makings of a classic (VOGUE, All The Best Books To Look Out For In 2026)
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