There’s an awful lot going on in Farzana Doctor’s fascinating first novel, Stealing Nasreen. Touching on themes of grief, desire and assimilation, Doctor lays out an ambitious array of characters and dilemmas and … pulls them together with admirable skill…. This unique contribution to CanLit probes the problems and joys of creating an open, diverse society.

—Now Magazine

The process of leaving one’s country and finding a sense of belonging in another is often rife with uncertainty and turmoil. What makes Stealing Nasreen such a riveting read is the way it takes this uncertainty and makes it even more complex by adding sexuality and desire to the angst-filled immigrant experience. Stealing Nasreen reveals the intricacies of human relationships, but more importantly, it is an eye-opening critique of the multicultural dream.

—Quill and Quire

Farzana Doctor’s first novel offers a study in linked solitudes and secrets…. The truly gratifying part of Stealing Nasreen … [and] what has stayed with me are the unerring interior dramas: Shaffiq despairing for his family’s future; Nasreen, in a trance of sadness, hovering near the edge of a subway platform; Salma thinking with sweet regret of Raj, her lost Mumbai lover.”

—Globe and Mail

You don’t get a novel more Torontonian than Farzana Doctor’s Stealing Nasreen and you don’t have to be of South Asian descent to relate to the characters in a story that hinges on the worlds of the first- and second-generation immigrants in this multicultural city…. There are glimpses of brilliant—and funny—observations by the writer.

—Desi Life (Toronto Star)