57 pages • 1 hour read
When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine
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Summary: “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine”
“When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine” is a story from Jhumpa Lahiri’s 1999 collection Interpreter of Maladies. The collection won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2000 and has sold over 15 million copies worldwide. This guide refers to the 1999 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company paperback edition.
Content Warning: The story contains references to wartime violence, including genocide and sexual assault.
“When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine” takes place in New England during the autumn of 1971. The story unfolds through the eyes of Lilia, then 10 years old, who is looking back and reflecting on this period of her life. Because her parents miss many aspects of their life in India, they often seek out other Indian emigrant compatriots from the university where her father works. As a result, Mr. Pirzada becomes a frequent guest in their home. A botanist who is in America to study the foliage on a prestigious but low-paying grant from the Pakistani government, Mr. Pirzada has a wife and seven daughters back in Dacca; however, he has not heard from them in months due to the outbreak of civil conflict between East and West Pakistan.
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