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The Roles We Play

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( 1,125 ratings, 217 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Roles We Play by Sabba Khan is a debut graphic memoir exploring identity, belonging and memory within the East London Pakistani Muslim diaspora. Through a series of short essays, Khan reflects on her life as a second generation Azad Kashmiri migrant, revealing experiences from the Himalayas to bustling Green Street. The book tackles themes of race, gender and class, intertwining personal stories with broader cultural questions of tradition, secularism and progress.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers interested in graphic novels that explore complex themes of diaspora, identity and belonging within British Asian communities. Suitable for those who appreciate thoughtful memoirs that intertwine personal narrative with cultural and social commentary.

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'Where is home, Mum?' From the foothills of the Himalayas in the Kashmiri valleys to bustling Green Street in East London, Sabba Khan researches her identity from the global to the local, covering partition, displacement, and assimilation with humour and courage.

For fans of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, Una's Becoming Unbecoming.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Where is home, Mum? From the foothills of the Himalayas in the Kashmiri valleys to bustling Green Street in East London, Sabba Khan researches her identity from the global to the local, covering partition, displacement, and clothing choices for an interview as a wannabe student at a prestigious private architectural school.

Khan's eloquent minimal style and architectural page design illuminates her experiences of growing up as a second generation Azad Kashmiri migrant in East London.

The Roles We Play is Sabba Khan's debut graphic memoir, collecting a series of short essays that explore themes of identity, belonging, and memory within the East London Pakistani Muslim diaspora. Together, the stories paint a vivid snapshot of contemporary British Asian life and the complex generational shifts experienced within migrant communities today.

Issues of race, gender, and class are brought to the forefront in a simple and personal narrative. The title of the book nods to the questions Khan explores: can religion and secularism, tradition and trend, heritage and progression move beyond a limited binary definition and toward a common space of love and understanding, and ultimately toward a pluralistic approach?

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Zeba Talkhani praises it as "a razor-sharp, resilient and generous view" of belonging in exclusive spaces, while The Bookseller calls it "absorbing." Preti Taneja finds it "beautifully drawn" and moving, and Nikesh Shukla describes it as "a beautiful and bittersweet book." Anne Karpf, Nyla Ahmad and Umi Sinha highlight its emotional depth and intelligence. Ben East notes Khan’s breaking of cycles through "love, art and understanding." The memoir is compared to walks of trailblazing graphic memoirists like Alison Bechdel and Craig Thompson.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781912408306

Publisher: Myriad Editions

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 15 July 2021

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Myriad Editions

Illustration: Colour illustrations throughout

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 170.0mm

Height: 288.0mm

Weight: 300g

Pages: 272

About the Author

Sabba Khan is an architectural designer, artist and maker living in Newham, East London, and one half of architectural practice Khan Bonshek. She is an advocate of increasing working class black and brown representation in the arts and publishing, as well as in architecture and construction. Sabba's work on The Roles We Play is supported by the Jerwood New Work Fund.

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