“Given its scope, depth and idiom, ‘Naulakhi Kothi’ stands out as one of the most important 21st century novels on post/colonial Hindustan in general, and Punjab in particular.

Considering the epic scale of the novel, its English translation by Naima Rashid is an invaluable contribution to sub-continental English fiction. It captures the narrative force of the source text with matching felicity and nuance… (It) nails the challenging task of fusing the rhythms of Urdu, Punjabi and English languages in a contemporary idiom.”

Maninder Sidhu, Tribune India

“Naulakhi Kothi brims with textures, colours, personalities, subtexts, backstories and arcs, each with liminal and subliminal layers … As an alert reader of these shifts, Rashid successfully and fluidly changes the context, because the translation “has to gallop at the same rhythm. It can’t lag behind. Nor get too fast ahead.””

Sara Danial, Dawn

“Rashid’s translation is excellent. William’s story is going to haunt the readers long after the last page of this magnum opus is turned.”

Lamat R. Hassan, Newsbits India

“Ali Akbar Natiq’s unique narrative style and the equally brilliant translation by Naima Rashid … is to be really appreciated.
This novel … remains a page-turner and is strongly recommended for all classes of reader alike.”

Somdatta Mandal, Borderless Journal

“Naulakhi Kothi is a rare and perhaps unique example of an Urdu writer engaging a British character, the outsider, to explore loss of home usually limited to Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs as victims of violence.”

Soni Wadhwa, Asian Review of Books

“Ali Akbar Natiq is the reigning prince of modern Urdu literature. His first novel Naulakhi Kothi is an intimate epic, a romp through Punjab’s past and present, and a poetic interrogation of our colonial masters. I am fortunate that Natiq is from a village only a couple of miles from mine in Okara. These pages have the fragrance of our tilled earth, shades of the colour of our common blood. I don’t know any writer, in any language, who can write so beautifully and then go and build stunning red brick buildings with his own hands.”

Mohammad Hanif

“Ali Akbar Natiq is among Urdu’s foremost writers, A poet, fiction writer and novelist, he has dazzled readers and critics with his mesmerizing portraits of rural Panjab. Natiq’s work has been translated and published in reputed literary journals across the globe.

Naulakhi Kothi weaves a complex plot of rivalries, intrigues and compassion. It brings alive an array of characters whose lives through generations are caught up in the web of existence. The British Raj is presented through William, a civilian officer who has put down deep roots in the land of Panjab. Natiq’s novel has a wide canvas. Under the historical backdrop of a fascinating era an equally compelling story intertwined with love for the land, landlords and their families begins to unfold. Naulakhi Kothi’s narrative has momentum, memorable characters and all the elements that make it unforgettable read. Naima Rashid’s translation stays close to the Urdu text, preserving the flavor of Urdu speckled with regional dialect. Her nuanced choices of words keep the flow of the English in sync with the Urdu.”

Mehr Afshan Farooqi

“Naima Rashid pulls off another remarkable metamorphosis of translation. Fragrances of hookah smoke to chameli flowers permeate a language that should have felt foreign to this whole story, and yet Rashid’s English is imbued with the lyrical nuances of Urdu and articulates the raw, loud, simplicity of Punjabi culture in a fluid and natural texture. This novel encompasses the soul of three different languages in its very woof and weft.

This is a rare and remarkable novel. Like the sea, its deep calm encircles the reader, even as the rich secret life and the ebb and flow of the story’s currents pull at one inexorably.”

Faiqa Mansab