Bapsi Sidhwa was born in 1938 in Karachi into an eminent family. Her parents Peshotan and Tehmina Bhandara belonged to the Parsee community which she has described with such warmth and humour in her novels

, (London, Jonathan Cape, 1980)

(London, William Heinemann, 1988; reprinted as

Minneapolis, Minnesota; Milkweed Editions 1991) and

(Minneapolis, Minnesota, Milkweed Editions, 1993). Soon after Sidhwa was born her family moved to Lahore. The city is central to her four novels, including

(London, Jonathan Cape, 1983). In Lahore, however, there were few Parsees and the Bhandara family was cut off from mainstream Parsee life. Their mother tongue was Gujerati, but they were also involved in the Urdu and Punjabi culture of…

2507 words

Citation: Shamsie, Muneeza. "Bapsi Sidhwa". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 July 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5149, accessed 25 November 2024.]

• View recommended reading for this article