Mohsin Hamid Imagines A Rebirth To See Ourselves Anew In His Latest Novel

Mohsin Hamid is the author of the bestsellers Exit West and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, and his many essays, have been published in The New York Times, the Washington Post, The New York Review of Books, and elsewhere. He divides his time between Lahore, Pakistan, New York, and London. His work has been praised for lyrically expressing the truth, pain, and beauty of humanity. And he brings this to his new novel, it’s called The Last White Man. Beginning with a Kafka-esque twist, a young white man named Anders wakes up one morning to find that his skin has darkened overnight. As he tries to reconcile what this means, how to present himself to the world that knew him as white, others begin to turn dark as well. As turmoil spreads across the town, Anders is comforted by his girlfriend Oona, as his transformation allows Oona to see things in him she couldn’t see before, strengthening their relationship. The Last White Man is a beautifully written blend of allegory and magical realism; it is a thought-provoking exploration of race, of loss, but also of hope.