Spiral Road

Masud Alam has lived in Australia for the past thirty years. Now his father is dying, drifting in a haze of Alzheimer’s, and Masud has returned to Bangladesh to say goodbye and to reconnect with his family. Still unmarried, he instantly becomes the focus of his mother’s match-making. He also begins to appreciate how far his family’s fortunes have fallen, and how hard his brother, Zia, has worked to keep them all afloat.As Masud reacquaints himself with the country whose independence he fought for, he is surprised by the shifting, complex views of his old friends and neighbours. He also discovers some family secrets, when a chance remark by his father prompts him to examine old family papers.But most disturbing of all are the secrets of his young nephew, Omar, recently returned from America with a quiet steeliness in his gaze…