Description:
An upright and modest Muslim family in Mississauga, Ontario, discovers by accident the plans to bomb public places in Toronto on their son Rafiq's computer. Told simply, impartially, and with understanding and empathy, Belief describes the trauma of a family unable to understand their child as they anxiously await his fate.
Brief description: Mayank Bhatt immigrated to Toronto in 2008 from Mumbai (Bombay), where he worked as a journalist. His short stories have been published in TOK 5: Writing the New Toronto and Canadian Voices II. In Canada he has worked as a security guard, an administrator, and an arts festival organizer. He lives in Toronto with his family.
Review Quotes:
"Bhatt's illuminating, plain-spoken novel could be instrumental in generating substantive discussion about the immigrant experience in a country that is still a long way from understanding what that really entails." --Dana Hansen, Quill & Quire
"The power of Belief lies in the way it penetrates Abdul and Ruksana's family and their world, making the reader intimate with the horribly shaken lives of four multi-dimensional human beings." --Veena Gokhale
"A sensitive, eloquent and timely novel." --Lisa de Nikolits, author of No Fury Like That