Unlike anything I think I have ever read it was creepy and dark but also hilariously funny in parts. I haven't been able able to stop thinking about it

The TWISTS in this book, oh my!! I did not see that coming at all! I binged this book, really enjoyed it and couldn't put it down.

The narrative revolves around Anisa Ellahi, a 35-year-old residing in London, employed as an Urdu-English translator for Bollywood films. Despite her current role, Anisa aspires to translate great literary works. Her life takes an interesting turn when she starts dating Adam, discovering his proficiency in over 10 languages acquired at an exclusive language school called The Centre, where he learned each language in just 10 days.

Initially doubtful, Anisa's curiosity wins out and she enrolls in The Centre to learn German. The unconventional learning process proves effective, and by the 7th day, Anisa masters German flawlessly. However, upon leaving The Centre, she begins to uncover the dark and unsettling consequences of its services.

I'm delighted to share that this gripping and unsettling tale exceeded my expectations. The author masterfully crafted characters with depth and a well-imagined world. Anisa, the flawed and intricately layered protagonist, stood out, infused with dark humor. The original and distinct plot contributed to my thorough enjoyment of this absorbing and extraordinary story.

Without divulging spoilers, I can attest that while the story contains a twist, it leans more towards character-driven literary fiction than a thriller. The narrative delves into significant themes such as racism, classism, colonialism, and sexism, making it an excellent choice for book club discussions.

Well this is thoroughly creepy and a great read!

Anisa finds herself at The Centre, signed up to become fluent in German in just 10 days - how is this possible?! She spends her days alone in a pod with just one voice teaching her, and indeed is fluent. This is the start of her questions, how can this happen in such a short time? Whose are the voices? Why is everything so secret?

Returning to learn Russisan, Anisa starts to find the answers... be prepared to be gripped, this really is one of those books that it is hard to put down, and the twists and turns are brilliant. It's such a unique story and I just loved this.

The Centre was a book made to be consumed quickly. An odd, offbeat story following a young Pakistani woman unsure of her self in more ways than one. When offered the chance to transform her professional life from translator of Urdu, working on Bollywood film subtitles from bed, to a translator of great works of literature, in less than 2 weeks, she jumps at the chance.

At The Centre, the language acquisition process is kept under close wraps, and the immersive program is run by an enigmatic woman, Shiba. The two grow close, a complicated friendship & a little bit more, starts to emerge.

The reveal in this book was impeccable, I had an inkling but I still wasn’t disappointed. The chatty authorial voice made dialogue easy to read but the depth of questioning our characters contemplated regarding the politics of translation, inequalities between European and Global south translated works, class systems in Pakistan and India, misogyny in startup culture - all were well integrated.

Really, this book was lesson in subtlety when conveying complex socio political themes - many current new releases could take note.

One for your beach bag or weekend in bed, either way - easy to devour ❤️‍🔥

This was a solid novel.

I had theories but I wasn't quite correct about what was going on.

This concept obviously came from a writer who gives a lot of thought to language, to translations and to the innate hierarchies of being comprehended - which languages are considered of higher or lower commercial value, literary value etc.

The writing was strong and carried these ideas well. Words felt chosen carefully and the world was filled in with well chosen details.

I will be interested to see what comes next from this exciting new voice.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I was intrigued by the concept of this one and the striking cover also drew me in. Intriguing and keeps you guessing

Thought the concept of this sounded so unique, but unfortunately wasn’t a huge fan of how things were revealed within the narrative or the protagonists reaction to things.

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi is a devilishly dark, intriguing tale. Anisa is a translator whose boyfriend introduces her to a remote and rather sinister language school calledThe Centre. Here, the students can learn any language of their choice in the matter of days. Seemingly without any hard work, anyone can learn to speak, another language fluently. Anisa is sceptical, but she soon discovers the truth.. and it’s far darker than she could ever have imagined. I found this story to be intriguing and different and it took me to parts of the world. I know very little about, to my shame. It made me question what it means to be human and how we connect with each other.

This is a wild premise, with the protagonist Anisa learning through a new boyfriend of an exclusive centre where chosen participants can learn a language in just a couple of weeks. Sounds great, but the methods are more than a little odd. The novel has excellent descriptions, particularly of place, and it moves along at a good trot, but I found some of the exposition a little bit clunky and Anisa came across much younger than the thirty something she was supposed to be. Definitely an interesting story, particularly if you have an interest in language and translation.

I thought I knew where this was going and then it went so much further than I expected 😂

Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi’s debut novel, THE CENTRE, is, on the surface, about learning languages. Underneath that, it asks whether language-learning is actually far more political than simply acquiring the knowledge of a language, and how languages can and should be earned.

After ten days at the Centre on a retreat consisting of meditation, silence, and an internet ban, Anisa — a translator who wants to up her language skills so that she can write “real,” literary translations, furthering her career from the Bollywood movie translations she’s bored of — can speak German with native fluency. Thrilled, she is desperate to figure out the Centre’s secrets, but when they suddenly go much deeper than she could have imagined, the cost of knowing perhaps comes at too high a price.

I really enjoyed this one but writing why for this review has been extremely difficult as I cannot pin point why I liked it so much and I also don't want to mention certain aspects in case it spoils it for other readers.

I liked that the MC narrator didn't have everything together and thought some of the topics explored within the narrative were handled really well and really encouraged the reader to think.

I do think the pacing was a little off as it was a rather large build up which made the reveal feel a little hasty and I would have liked something a little more shocking (don't get me wrong what was happening was shocking but it was pretty obvious that is where it was leading so did have the reveal factor)

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Following the recommendation of her (soon-to-be-ex) boyfriend, a translator attends a course at a high-secrecy, mysterious language centre.

The Centre’s premise is so interesting and I was beyond intrigued by the centre and how it might be working.

The characters are good, although they occasionally feel a little “off” (though, this could be explained by Anisa being a somewhat unreliable narrator, given that we are seeing it all from her viewpoint)

The actual centre is fascinating and I think the reveal is good! I just think the pacing is slightly off. There’s a fair build up of questioning and intrigue and it feels like the reveal is less than a few pages.

The ending, also, is pretty abrupt and unsatisfying. I was hoping for a hint (spoiler) that we were “reading” her tape transcript or something. It was very good, but I wish there was a bit more of the horror after the reveal. I wasn’t as disturbed as I could’ve been.

Overall, I enjoyed it and I’d be keen to read more from the author.

I am profoundly disappointed with "The Centre" book. It came highly recommended, with claims of being on par with R.F. Kuang's "Babel," but unfortunately, it fell significantly short of that standard.

The pacing of the book was incredibly slow, making it a challenging and laborious read. Moreover, the writing style itself proved to be arduous to navigate, further hindering my enjoyment.

What troubled me most was the representation of Muslims in the story. It was evident that the portrayal lacked the sensitivity and nuance that should accompany such depictions. This aspect left me disheartened and questioning whether the book underwent proper scrutiny during its development.

All in all, "The Centre" failed to meet the expectations set before it and left me unsatisfied.

The Centre is the story of Anisa, a young Pakistani woman living in England, translating Bollywood movies into English subtitles for a meagre and unfulfilled living whilst yearning for literary fame as a translator of great writing.

She meets Adam and a rather whirlwind romance follows, though there is definitely something suspicious about his struggle to learn basic Urdu she attempts to teach him, despite being multilingual, impressively fluent in various tongues.

Things come to a boiling point when the couple visit her family in Karachi and he finally reveals the truth of his impressive talent for languages. At first she struggles to believe what he tells her, of the Centre, an elusive establishment where a person can, for a mere £20,000, learn to speak any language utterly flawlessly in inly 10 days of immersive learning.

Anisa can't resist taking advantage of this seemingly magical opportunity and at first, it seems nothing short of a miracle. Her career takes off and she finds herself with a new close friend in the bargain, who also happens to be the manager of the centre.

But as the women grow closer, Anisa slowly pieces together the harrowing truth behind the centre - and this plot twist takes the saying "everything comes at a price" to a whole new level.

I was absolutely enthralled by this novel. Exceptional writing, the storytelling is unmatched. This was a breath of fresh air, so unique and exciting, I truly cannot recommend this more highly.

The only slight let down for me was the ending. I didn't really feel like I got the closure I wanted, it wasn't bad but it left me feeling like I need a follow up. Which I usually don't read, I prefer standalone books. But otherwise, this was truly amazing and if you're remotely interested in linguistics, translation, and dark and twisty themes, this is absolutely the book for you!

Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi’s ambitious narrative takes on a multiplicity of themes, ranging from race and identity to displacement to gender and patriarchy to the specifics of relationships between India and Pakistan through to the ethical horrors lurking behind the shiny surfaces of late capitalism. And, for me, that potentially vast catalogue of concerns made it seem ultimately lacking in focus: as its various storylines criss-crossed and overlapped, I became increasingly uncertain what it was that Siddiqi wanted me to take from her fantastical tale. Yet, despite my reservations, I still found this a surprisingly gripping read.

The Centre’s narrated by Anisa, a deliberately frustrating character who veers between hyper-analytical and appallingly narcissistic. Anisa moved to England from her home in Karachi to study, twenty years later she’s living in London supported by her wealthy family and half-heartedly churning out sub-titles for Bollywood films, while dreaming of a more respectable life as a literary translator. A chance encounter turns into a relationship that leads her to the mysterious Centre, a place where ten days in seclusion can result in fluency in any language its clients desire, including ones that offer far more prestige than Anisa’s Urdu. Once there Anisa develops an unmistakeable attraction to the woman assigned to supervise her studies, and a growing obsession with what lies behind the Centre’s spectacular success.

Siddiqi blends everyday realism – down to the brand of shampoo Anisa favours – with elements of political allegory that sometimes reminded me of Dave Eggers and novels like Michel Faber’s Under the Skin. The plot hinges on the true nature of the Centre’s secret but I worked out aspects of Siddiqi’s later reveals fairly early on – possibly because my past featured a number of anthropology textbooks or possibly because of my familiarity with various forms of schlock horror. And schlock doesn’t seem unreasonable as a term to describe the absurdity of the explanation for the Centre’s secrecy: it’s also an explanation that involves a rather literal take on the relations between colonialism and consumer capitalism. That said Anisa was an intriguing figure, and I liked a number of her wry observations on feminism, language, race and identity, and her disarmingly clumsy attempts to forge stronger relationships with friends and lovers. But the style could be a little forced and the various storylines overly stretched and distracting, I also found it hard to relate to the semi-spiritual strands running throughout. I’ve seen a number of comparisons to R. F. Kuang’s Babel but this is not as skilfully constructed or coherent, even though it could be very entertaining. But as a debut novel it’s more than promising, and one I’m happy to have read, I’ll be interested to see what Siddiqi comes up with next.

This book resonated with so much that interests me about the craft and business of literary translation. I’ll never see the #NameTheTranslator hashtag in the same way again! As a linguist with a background in publishing, this book was right up there for me with other translation greats - like Is That A Fish In Your Ear?, and The Novel of the Century, both by David Bellos and both non-fiction meditations on what it means to engage in translation. I learned so much from Ayesha’s prose, and made many, many notes. I’ll definitely be recommending it to my translator and academic friends!

Creepy yet original. Well-written and contemporary. I had little to no idea what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. Keep the ideas and writing coming Siddiqi!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC to review!

3.25 stars!

(No spoilers but putting a warning just to be safe)

I had this book already on my radar and jumped at the chance to get an ARC of it (accidentally applied or both the audiobook and ebook) but the audiobook was superb!!

I really loved this new idea! Without giving away any spoilers, The Centre seems like something that is too good to be true, and that might be right. There’s a dark secret behind the centre that will be discovered. The story held my interest throughout, I just felt like the ending fell flat for me as, I’m not even sure what I wanted to happen, but I wanted something else.

“It all began with Adam. Doesn’t it always? We met at a literary translation studies conference at Senate House, and it was through him that I first learned of the Centre.”

My thanks to Pan Macmillan Picador of an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Centre’ by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi.

First off, what a disturbing cover image with the multiple open mouths! It more than suggested there would be an element of psychological horror within its pages. That it was endorsed by Gillian Flynn, an author I rate highly for her complex psychological thrillers also drew me to it.

This debut novel is difficult to classify to a single genre as it also has aspects of speculative/science fiction alongside a contemporary exploration of identity and observations about the power of language and cultural appropriation.

The novel’s protagonist is Anisa Ellahi, a Pakistani woman in her mid-thirties living in London. She dreams of being a translator of ‘great works of literature’ though in actuality spends her days providing subtitles for Bollywood movies living off a generous allowance provided by her parents. She feels unsatisfied and adrift in her life.

Currently she is dating Adam, a rather mediocre English bloke, though he does appear to have a remarkable aptitude for languages that he has successfully applied to his career. Anisa decides that it’s time to introduce Adam to her parents and when they travel to Karachi, she is surprised that Adam has learned to speak Urdu with native fluency practically overnight. Under pressure Adam reveals to Anisa that he attends The Centre, an elite, invite-only language school that guarantees fluency in any language over an intense 10-day program.

Anisa is skeptical but intrigued and has Adam secure her an invite as she wishes to learn German to further her desire to be a translator. What happens next? Well, I won’t head into spoiler territory though I will say that things start to become quite surreal.

I found Anisa a very relatable character. While the premise at the heart of ‘The Centre’ is undoubtedly high concept, I felt that the novel could easily have just focused on an exploration of Anisa’s experiences in London as a single woman approaching middle age seeking a more fulfilling life while wrestling with the differences in culture. Still, I definitely liked the weird SF aspects.

I also warmed to her best friend, Naima, who after obtaining a degree in psychology had transitioned into a ‘modern day witch’ holding alternative therapy sessions and Tarot readings for women of colour. Despite being rather New Age, Naima was often the voice of reason in Anisa’s life.

Overall, as I said above ‘The Centre’ is an unusual novel and I found it an engaging read and was quite interested in seeing how things resolved not only for Anisa but its other characters.

‘The Centre’ is a multilayered, thought provoking novel that also asks questions about why certain languages are more valued than others. Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi is herself a translator as well as a writer and thus in an ideal position to explore these topics.