The Idle Stance of the Tippler Pigeon

"The Idle Stance of a Tipper Pigeon is the work of an innate storyteller, a riveting and moving tale, which employs the perspective of several narrators, to advantage; it creates with great sensitivity, the unexpected reverberations of sudden tragedy on each individual. In the process it interweaves, past and present, the memories of joy and suffering, friendships and exclusions. The novel presents the complexities of trauma and mental aberrations with particular skill, including the pressures of daily life, class and gender." —Muneeza Shamsie, writer, critic, literary journalist, and author of Hybrid Tapestries: The Development of Pakistani Literature in English

-- Muneeza Shamsie

"The Idle Stance of the Tippler Pigeon is the gently wrought story of a Pakistani family struggling through the aftermath of an unimaginable tragedy. It addresses themes of loss, family, womanhood and friendship with sensitivity, grace and an enduring love for Pakistan." —Cherie Jones, author of How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House

-- Cherie Jones

“The Idle Stance of the Tippler Pigeon holds a mirror to the times we live in, telling a story steeped in—and embracing— the chaos, ambiguity and messiness of the human condition. The wounded nostalgia from our pasts, the burden of carrying it into the future, all the while, grappling with everyday contention in the present. Ellahi introduces a rich stew of influences and ingredients, whilst being intentional in acknowledging the intersections poking our lives: class politics, doing gender and even place. This is no linear, over-sanitized story trying to hail a single hero or told from a singular perspective; instead, it is a courageous calling out, raising uncomfortable yet urgent questions about what mostly gets hushed up in our societies—the threat of abuse and the act itself, the strangeness surrounding the ask for help, in short, the emotional and often invisible labour of daily survival in a place called ‘home’. Perhaps most poignantly, whilst this carefully crafted world complicates conversations around womanhood and privilege, it isn’t bereft of light and redemption.” —Saba Karim Khan, Author, Skyfall

-- Saba Karim Khan

"Safinah Danish Elahi's energetic and graceful weaving together of the lives, loves, joys and sorrows of the multiple characters this novel embraces, is as playful at times, as it is moving. By the novel's conclusion, I felt as if I had been on a deeply satisfying journey." —Briar Grace Smith, Script writer and Director of the movie, Cousins and Member of the Academy of Oscars

-- Briar Grace Smith

"Elahi's writing is lucid and heartfelt as she weaves together a compelling narrative of friendship, memory and identity." —Daisy Rockwell, Translator of Tomb of Sand and Man Booker International Prize winner 2022

-- Daisy Rockwell

"The writing is really beautiful and speaks to class issues." —Reader Review

“A novel with an epic sweep”—Carla Power, author of Home, Land, Security (Pulitzer Prize finalist) and *If The Oceans Were Ink *(Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist)