Books

There Has to Be a Knife

Adnan Khan

For readers of Brother by David Chariandy and Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez, Adnan Khan’s blistering debut novel investigates themes of race, class, masculinity and contemporary relationships.

Omar Ali, twenty-seven-year-old line cook and petty criminal, gets a phone call from his ex-girlfriend’s father at work, informing Omar that Anna has committed suicide. Unable to process or articulate his grief, and suffering from insomnia, Omar embarks on a quest to obtain her suicide note from her elusive parents. As he unravels, Omar finds himself getting involved in break-ins, online terrorism, dealing with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and losing his best friend as he becomes less recognizable.

There Has to Be a Knife examines expectations – both intimate and political – on brown men, exploring ideas of cultural identity and the tropes we use to represent them.

Plume Winnipeg