This is Where the Serpent Lives

**SELECTED AS A BOOK OF THE SUMMER BY THE GUARDIAN , FINANCIAL TIMES , DAILY MAIL , NEW STATESMAN AND THE WEEK ** Intimate and epic, elegiac and profoundly moving: a tour de force destined to become a classic of contemporary literature ‘Set to be a standout novel of 2026 ... Brutal, funny and brilliantly told’ Patrick Gale, Guardian ‘All the makings of a classic’ Vogue ‘Expect to see this novel all over prize lists in 2026 ... Mueenuddin is a literary magician ’ The Times ‘Masterful storytelling ’ Daily Mail ‘A book you'll be hearing about again ’ New York Times ‘An excoriating epic of class and power’ Observer ‘A future classic, pure and simple ... Simply put, the novel is a triumph’ Irish Times Moving from Pakistan’s sophisticated cities to its most rural farmlands, This Is Where the Serpent Lives captures the extraordinary proximity of extreme wealth to extreme poverty in a land where fate is determined by class and social station. Daniyal Mueenuddin’s This Is Where the Serpent Lives paints a powerful portrait of contemporary feudal Pakistan and a farm on which the destinies of a dozen unforgettable characters are linked through violence and love, resilience, and tragedy. Yazid rises from abject poverty to the role of trusted servant to an affluent gangster; Saqib, an errand boy, is eventually trusted to lead his boss’s new farming venture, where he becomes determined to rise above his rank by any means necessary. Saqib’s boss, the wealthy landowner Hisham, reminisces about meeting his wife while she was dating his brother while Gazala, a young teacher, falls for Saqib and his bold promises for their future before learning about his plans to skim money from the farm’s profits. In matters of both business and the heart, Mueenuddin’s characters struggle to choose between the paths that are moral and the paths that will allow them to survive the systems of caste, capital, and social power that so tightly grip their country. ‘Stunning’ Los Angeles Times ‘Mueenuddin recalls Chekhov ... But another writer comes to mind as well - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, whose 1958 The Leopard offers a layered totalizing portrait of a society that is both changing and failing to change. This Is Where the Serpent Lives has that kind of ambition and captures its world in the same exhilarating and unsparing way’ Wall Street Journal ‘ A work of mosaic structure and expansive power ’ Financial Times ‘The best fiction to read this year ’ New Statesman ‘A shining example of the very best literature’ Washington Post ‘ A Dickensian saga set in modern Pakistan’ Boston Globe

**SELECTED AS A BOOK OF THE SUMMER BY THE GUARDIAN , FINANCIAL TIMES , DAILY MAIL , NEW STATESMAN AND THE WEEK ** Intimate and epic, elegiac and profoundly moving: a tour de force destined to become a classic of contemporary literature ‘Set to be a standout novel of 2026 ... Brutal, funny and brilliantly told’ Patrick Gale, Guardian ‘All the makings of a classic’ Vogue ‘Expect to see this novel all over prize lists in 2026 ... Mueenuddin is a literary magician ’ The Times ‘Masterful storytelling ’ Daily Mail ‘A book you'll be hearing about again ’ New York Times ‘An excoriating epic of class and power’ Observer ‘A future classic, pure and simple ... Simply put, the novel is a triumph’ Irish Times Moving from Pakistan’s sophisticated cities to its most rural farmlands, This Is Where the Serpent Lives captures the extraordinary proximity of extreme wealth to extreme poverty in a land where fate is determined by class and social station. Daniyal Mueenuddin’s This Is Where the Serpent Lives paints a powerful portrait of contemporary feudal Pakistan and a farm on which the destinies of a dozen unforgettable characters are linked through violence and love, resilience, and tragedy. Yazid rises from abject poverty to the role of trusted servant to an affluent gangster; Saqib, an errand boy, is eventually trusted to lead his boss’s new farming venture, where he becomes determined to rise above his rank by any means necessary. Saqib’s boss, the wealthy landowner Hisham, reminisces about meeting his wife while she was dating his brother while Gazala, a young teacher, falls for Saqib and his bold promises for their future before learning about his plans to skim money from the farm’s profits. In matters of both business and the heart, Mueenuddin’s characters struggle to choose between the paths that are moral and the paths that will allow them to survive the systems of caste, capital, and social power that so tightly grip their country. ‘Stunning’ Los Angeles Times ‘Mueenuddin recalls Chekhov ... But another writer comes to mind as well - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, whose 1958 The Leopard offers a layered totalizing portrait of a society that is both changing and failing to change. This Is Where the Serpent Lives has that kind of ambition and captures its world in the same exhilarating and unsparing way’ Wall Street Journal ‘ A work of mosaic structure and expansive power ’ Financial Times ‘The best fiction to read this year ’ New Statesman ‘A shining example of the very best literature’ Washington Post ‘ A Dickensian saga set in modern Pakistan’ Boston Globe

**SELECTED AS A BOOK OF THE SUMMER BY THE GUARDIAN , FINANCIAL TIMES , DAILY MAIL , NEW STATESMAN AND THE WEEK ** Intimate and epic, elegiac and profoundly moving: a tour de force destined to become a classic of contemporary literature ‘Set to be a standout novel of 2026 ... Brutal, funny and brilliantly told’ Patrick Gale, Guardian ‘All the makings of a classic’ Vogue ‘Expect to see this novel all over prize lists in 2026 ... Mueenuddin is a literary magician ’ The Times ‘Masterful storytelling ’ Daily Mail ‘A book you'll be hearing about again ’ New York Times ‘An excoriating epic of class and power’ Observer ‘A future classic, pure and simple ... Simply put, the novel is a triumph’ Irish Times Moving from Pakistan’s sophisticated cities to its most rural farmlands, This Is Where the Serpent Lives captures the extraordinary proximity of extreme wealth to extreme poverty in a land where fate is determined by class and social station. Daniyal Mueenuddin’s This Is Where the Serpent Lives paints a powerful portrait of contemporary feudal Pakistan and a farm on which the destinies of a dozen unforgettable characters are linked through violence and love, resilience, and tragedy. Yazid rises from abject poverty to the role of trusted servant to an affluent gangster; Saqib, an errand boy, is eventually trusted to lead his boss’s new farming venture, where he becomes determined to rise above his rank by any means necessary. Saqib’s boss, the wealthy landowner Hisham, reminisces about meeting his wife while she was dating his brother while Gazala, a young teacher, falls for Saqib and his bold promises for their future before learning about his plans to skim money from the farm’s profits. In matters of both business and the heart, Mueenuddin’s characters struggle to choose between the paths that are moral and the paths that will allow them to survive the systems of caste, capital, and social power that so tightly grip their country. ‘Stunning’ Los Angeles Times ‘Mueenuddin recalls Chekhov ... But another writer comes to mind as well - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, whose 1958 The Leopard offers a layered totalizing portrait of a society that is both changing and failing to change. This Is Where the Serpent Lives has that kind of ambition and captures its world in the same exhilarating and unsparing way’ Wall Street Journal ‘ A work of mosaic structure and expansive power ’ Financial Times ‘The best fiction to read this year ’ New Statesman ‘A shining example of the very best literature’ Washington Post ‘ A Dickensian saga set in modern Pakistan’ Boston Globe

**SELECTED AS A BOOK OF THE SUMMER BY THE GUARDIAN , FINANCIAL TIMES , DAILY MAIL , NEW STATESMAN AND THE WEEK ** Intimate and epic, elegiac and profoundly moving: a tour de force destined to become a classic of contemporary literature ‘Set to be a standout novel of 2026 ... Brutal, funny and brilliantly told’ Patrick Gale, Guardian ‘All the makings of a classic’ Vogue ‘Expect to see this novel all over prize lists in 2026 ... Mueenuddin is a literary magician ’ The Times ‘Masterful storytelling ’ Daily Mail ‘A book you'll be hearing about again ’ New York Times ‘An excoriating epic of class and power’ Observer ‘A future classic, pure and simple ... Simply put, the novel is a triumph’ Irish Times Moving from Pakistan’s sophisticated cities to its most rural farmlands, This Is Where the Serpent Lives captures the extraordinary proximity of extreme wealth to extreme poverty in a land where fate is determined by class and social station. Daniyal Mueenuddin’s This Is Where the Serpent Lives paints a powerful portrait of contemporary feudal Pakistan and a farm on which the destinies of a dozen unforgettable characters are linked through violence and love, resilience, and tragedy. Yazid rises from abject poverty to the role of trusted servant to an affluent gangster; Saqib, an errand boy, is eventually trusted to lead his boss’s new farming venture, where he becomes determined to rise above his rank by any means necessary. Saqib’s boss, the wealthy landowner Hisham, reminisces about meeting his wife while she was dating his brother while Gazala, a young teacher, falls for Saqib and his bold promises for their future before learning about his plans to skim money from the farm’s profits. In matters of both business and the heart, Mueenuddin’s characters struggle to choose between the paths that are moral and the paths that will allow them to survive the systems of caste, capital, and social power that so tightly grip their country. ‘Stunning’ Los Angeles Times ‘Mueenuddin recalls Chekhov ... But another writer comes to mind as well - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, whose 1958 The Leopard offers a layered totalizing portrait of a society that is both changing and failing to change. This Is Where the Serpent Lives has that kind of ambition and captures its world in the same exhilarating and unsparing way’ Wall Street Journal ‘ A work of mosaic structure and expansive power ’ Financial Times ‘The best fiction to read this year ’ New Statesman ‘A shining example of the very best literature’ Washington Post ‘ A Dickensian saga set in modern Pakistan’ Boston Globe

A stunning new work from universally acclaimed Daniyal Mueenuddin, whose debut short story collection won the Story Prize and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Book Prize, the National Book Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. Moving from Pakistan's dazzling chaotic cities to its lawless feudal countryside, This Is Where the Serpent Lives powerfully evokes contemporary feudal Pakistan, following the destinies of a dozen unforgettable characters whose lives are linked through violence and tragedy, triumph, and love. Orphaned as a little boy and fending for himself in the city streets, Yazid rises to a place of responsibility and respect in the Lahore household of Colonel Atar, a powerful industrialist and politician, only to find that position threatened by conflicting loyalties and misplaced trust. Born on Colonel Atar's country estate to a poor gardener, Saqib is entrusted with the management of a pioneering business, but he overreaches and finds himself an outlaw, confronting the violence of the corrupt Punjab Police. The colonel's son competes with his cherished brother for the love of a woman and discovers that her choice colors his life with unexpected darkness as well as light. In matters of power and money and the heart, Mueenuddin's characters struggle to choose between paths that are moral and just and more worldly choices that allow them to survive in the systems of caste, capital, and social power that so tightly grip their culture. Intimate and epic, elegiac and profoundly moving, This Is Where the Serpent Lives is a tour de force destined to become a classic of contemporary literature.

A stunning new work from universally acclaimed Daniyal Mueenuddin, whose debut short story collection won the Story Prize and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Book Prize, the National Book Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. Moving from Pakistan's dazzling chaotic cities to its lawless feudal countryside, This Is Where the Serpent Lives powerfully evokes contemporary feudal Pakistan, following the destinies of a dozen unforgettable characters whose lives are linked through violence and tragedy, triumph, and love. Orphaned as a little boy and fending for himself in the city streets, Yazid rises to a place of responsibility and respect in the Lahore household of Colonel Atar, a powerful industrialist and politician, only to find that position threatened by conflicting loyalties and misplaced trust. Born on Colonel Atar's country estate to a poor gardener, Saqib is entrusted with the management of a pioneering business, but he overreaches and finds himself an outlaw, confronting the violence of the corrupt Punjab Police. The colonel's son competes with his cherished brother for the love of a woman and discovers that her choice colors his life with unexpected darkness as well as light. In matters of power and money and the heart, Mueenuddin's characters struggle to choose between paths that are moral and just and more worldly choices that allow them to survive in the systems of caste, capital, and social power that so tightly grip their culture. Intimate and epic, elegiac and profoundly moving, This Is Where the Serpent Lives is a tour de force destined to become a classic of contemporary literature.