LoveReading Says
Centred on two chalk-and-cheese sisters, Playing Games — the debut novel from acclaimed short story writer Huma Qureshi — is engaging, accessible, and finely threaded with truths about love, loneliness, friction between loved ones, and dilemmas around trying to find your way in the world.
On the face of it, Hana is your classic character who has it all. Two years older than her sibling Mira, she has a husband, a house, a degree from Oxford, and she works as a family lawyer. Mira, on the other hand, dropped out of her degree when the sisters’ mother died and now works in a café while pursuing her dream of being a playwright, while also wracked by self-doubt and writer’s block — if only she could find the right inspiration...
Tension is introduced to this set-up from the off, as we learn Hana has problems with Mira’s neediness, and her homelife isn’t as shiny as it seems. Then, when Hana and her husband have a monumental row, a tsunami bursts forth, unleashing ethical questions around what is — and isn’t — right to draw on for inspiration, and testing the boundaries of sisterly bonds and trust to the max.
Blessed with relatable observations and clearly-conveyed emotional dilemmas, Playing Games will have fans of female-centred, family-focussed fiction utterly hooked as it tugs the heart strings and prompts a stack of soul-searching “what would I have done?” questions.
Joanne Owen
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Huma Qureshi Press Reviews
Qureshi brilliantly captures the complexities of sisterhood in this intimate novel -- Joanna Finney - Good Housekeeping
A warm and moving portrait of two women's desires, equally overwhelming, to create art and to become a parent. Playing Games thoughtfully and elegantly considers what it means to be a sister, a mother and a writer, as well as the fine line between truth and fiction and what happens when one brushes up against the other. -- Chloë Ashby, author of Wet Paint
A riveting and evocative tale of two sisters navigating love, loss and desires -- Zeba Talkhani, author of My Past is a Foreign Country
A heartwarming tale of two sisters, and a bittersweet reckoning with what it means to make art; what we ask of and what we take from those we're closest to. Huma Qureshi is a writer with a beautiful lightness of touch -- Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days
Playing Games is a tender, beautifully nuanced portrayal of sisterhood, of family, love and loss. Huma Qureshi has a rare ability to perfectly capture the details that make up a life, full of raw and real emotion. I adored it. -- Sara Nisha Adams, author of The Reading List
A book full of raw emotion, tension and, ultimately, sibling love -- Kirstyn Smith - My Weekly
Compassionate, thoughtful and thought-provoking -- Haleh Agar, author of Out of Touch
Playing Games is a poignant story about the complexities and beauty of the bond between sisters. Huma Qureshi lucidly examines the curdled emotions of family and illuminates the inner process of the writer. Reading Qureshi's crystal prose is a rare pleasure. I found Playing Games unputdownable. - Molly Aitken, author of The Island Child
Reading Huma Qureshi's Playing Games is a comfort. Familiar and tender, the characters are both relatable and infuriating, as only sisters are. It discusses art, love, family, and the large non-negotiable life decisions we all eventually face. For everyone who is a sister, has a sister, or wish they had a sister. -- Jenny Mustard, author of Okay Days
I loved Playing Games. Huma Qureshi writes about relationships, whether it is sisterhood or marriage, with such tenderness that it will break your heart. She steers us through Hana and Mira's chaos with compassion and kindness. There were many instances when I wanted to give the sisters a huge hug, but at the same time, I wanted to shake them because they frustrated me so much. And you only do that with characters you deeply care about. -- Sairish Hussain, author of The Family Tree
A moving, sensitive portrait of siblings caught between art, ambition and loyalty - The Bookseller
Praise for Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love A beautiful short-story collection . . . heartbreaking and hopeful - Red
Qureshi's stories keenly identify the everyday tragedies of feeling profoundly unknown or unheard, of holding secrets and misunderstandings . . . These tales vividly capture the experience of feeling constrained by family expectations, but also of not quite fitting the norms of British culture either - Observer
A luscious debut . . Qureshi is a dab hand at yanking the rug out from under the reader. Her immersive, poignant stories - written mostly in understated prose - often have a sting in the tale . . I fell for this lyrical, moving collection and the woozy intensity that infuses many of its stories. Qureshi creates gripping plotlines and vividly drawn characters and - most importantly - she is a writer with something to say. - i
[An] impressive debut collection - Sunday Times
