The Centre

A Novel

De: Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi

Narrado por: Balvinder Sopal

A darkly comic, speculative debut following an adrift Pakistani translator in London who attends a mysterious language school which boasts complete fluency in just ten days, but at a secret, sinister cost.

Anisa Ellahi dreams of being a translator of “great works of literature,” but instead mostly spends her days subtitling Bollywood movies, living off her parents’ generous allowance, and discussing the “underside of life” with her best friend, Naima. Anisa’s mediocre white boyfriend, Adam, only adds to her growing sense of inadequacy with his savant-level aptitude for languages, successfully leveraging his expansive knowledge into an enviable career.

But when Adam learns to speak Urdu with native fluency practically overnight, Anisa forces him to reveal his secret. Adam begrudgingly tells Anisa about The Centre, an elite, invite-only program that guarantees near-instant fluency in any language. Skeptical but intrigued, Anisa enrolls—stripped of her belongings, contact with the outside world, and bodily autonomy—and emerges ten days later fluent in German. As Anisa enmeshes herself further within The Centre, seduced by all that it’s made possible, she soon realizes the true cost of its services.

By turns dark, funny, and surreal, and with twists thrilling and shocking, The Centre takes the listener 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 is success really worth?

©2023 Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi (P)2023 Zando

The personal insights were fascinating

The ending was very abrupt and seemed unfinished, I felt like the story ended at least some more

Great story! Could be so much more!

I loved this book, but I’d give a pinky, if not my life story, to have the learning mechanisms explained more thoroughly!

Memorable story, outstanding narrator

I won't discuss the plot at all because readers will have strong, personal responses to it, but the writing and many of her insights about translation and language were moving and insightful. I will definitely read Siddiqi’s next work!

As for the narrator, Balvinder Sopal is among the elite Audible narrators. Truly a memorable listen, with nuances of characters conveyed so clearly as well as a clear sense of the author’s rich style. She made this a fantastic experience—best of the best!

Weird, really weird

It may have been profound at a level over my head, but I just couldn't wrap my head around most of it. It did keep my attention and I finished it, but it wasn't riveting and I found myself wishing for it to just be done. I gave up on any big ending.

Very engaging story, but it stopped abruptly

I really enjoyed the storyline, however, I was hoping for a better ending. I’m thinking there must be a second book coming?

Incredible

This is not just a book—it is an experience. An absolutely tremendous performance from the narrator complements and elevates an already sumptuous narrative. This one will stay with me.

One of the very best

A captivating plot, well-crafted sentences, good dialogue and the whole of it read perfectly. I have listened to several hundred of books and this is one of the very best. Thank you!

Started out ok but not a fan by the end

Story started out slowly but had great narration, so I stuck with it. LOTS of telling and very little showing. Long minutes with no dialogue at all, and then mainly short bursts. Story got more exciting about 2/3 of the way, but the ending was totally unsatisfying. A huge letdown.

Impressive first book

I didn’t want it to end! I feel a sequel might be in the air.

Not my cup of tea, but not horrible

I kept hoping for better, a few points along the way I thought it was getting better, but in the end it was just not good. Kept hoping the protagonist would see all of her narcissistic ways, but that’s not how in the story went.