Welcome to The Centre. You'll never be the same . . . Anisa Ellahi spends her days writing
subtitles for Bollywood films in her London flat all the while longing to be a translator of
?great works of literature'. Her boyfriend Adam's extraordinary aptitude for languages only
makes her feel worse but when Adam learns to speak Urdu practically overnight Anisa forces
him to reveal his secret. Adam tells Anisa about the Centre an elite invite-only programme
that guarantees total fluency in any language in just ten days. Sceptical but intrigued Anisa
enrols. Stripped of her belongings and contact with the outside world she undergoes the
Centre's strange and rigorous processes. But as she enmeshes herself further within the
organization seduced by all that it's made possible she soon realizes the disturbing hidden
cost of its services. By turns dark funny and surreal The Centre takes the reader on a
journey through Karachi London and New Delhi interrogating the sticky politics of language
translation and appropriation with biting specificity and ultimately asking: what price would
you be willing to pay for success? A remarkable debut from Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi announcing
the arrival of an extraordinary new talent.
