Book Review: Homecoming by Omair Ahmad
1 min read
Team Kitaab reviews Omair Ahmad’s Homecoming (Speaking Tiger, 2026) and analyses his journey to a city to call home.
In Omair Ahmad’s Homecoming, the search for home begins with a search for the past. Hassan comes to Lucknow hoping to find something of the father he has lost, and perhaps something of himself in the city’s history and character. He has spent years trying to belong to a place known for its poetry, manners and grace. Yet belonging does not come simply from living somewhere long enough, nor can it be claimed through an idea of what a place once was. For Hassan, it arrives gradually, through people who make room for him in their lives.
One such person is Ahmed Sahib, an elderly man whose circumstances have diminished but whose warmth and dignity remain intact. Their friendship becomes central to Hassan’s understanding of Lucknow. Through Ahmed Sahib, the city begins to feel less like a place Hassan is trying to enter and more like somewhere he might stay. This is an important distinction. A city’s history and reputation may draw someone towards it, but it is often the ordinary, unspoken bonds formed there that make it feel like home.
