I became an instant fan of Sairish Hussain with her debut novel 'The Family Tree' - and her second didn't disappoint! A beautifully told story through the perspectives of two very different characters: teenager, Rubi, and her widowed grandfather, Yusuf. Hussain is among the best at crafting realistic characters that draw you in - the reader's love for them is certainly fuelled by their imperfections, and the way they have the ability to drive you insane, but love them and root for them at the same time,
A must-read for 2024!

Once again, Sairish Hussain tells a story that captures my heart and brings me to tears.

“The past can so easily be lost or rewritten. Fires can be put out or contained. They never really die, though. They just remain hidden. Hidden until something causes them to ignite again.”

Hidden Fires is a wonderful multi-generational novel focusing on the bond between a grandfather and granddaughter. It is about loss and grief, resilience, family ties, Partition..

Yusuf and Rubi have not seen each other often in the last few years. When circumstances force them to spend time together, they clash because of their generation gap and different values. Once they get to know each other better, they grow closer and a beautiful bond develops 🥺

Secrets are revealed and traumatic experiences surface while being together. Yusuf's memories are extremely tragic.. 💔 Reading from his point of view reminds us how short and fragile life is.

I loved seeing what Yusuf and Rubi meant to each other..
How Rubi took care of him and how she grew from a teenager who was very much on her own, into a loving and warm person.

5/5 ✨

This is a beautiful novel, looking at what it is to be of mixed race in modern Britain. it looks at family and how this influences our upbringing today.
The novel follows a mixed race Pakistani girl, and we learn about her relationship with her parents and more specifically her grandfather..
The girl has to temporarily live with her grandfather who she doesn’t know very well having only really met him at family gatherings in the past. In her past meetings with her grandfather he was always overshadowed by a much more outgoing grandmother who has died before the story begins. It’s lovely to have a story about relationships between family members across the generations. I recognised issues that I had with my own grandfather when I was the same age.

The mother has fibromyalgia and chronic pain is dealt with somewhat unsympathetically she doesn’t come across as a nice person
As the story develops, we hear of the horrific violence surrounding the partition of India and Pakistan when grandfather was a 10 year old boy . this is dealt with sensitively and adds a great deal of depth to the story
The author has a great skill in describing characters. and the way they react to each other so that both the central characters of the story, and most superficial ones all seem real I almost feel like I knew them before.
This is a primarily relationship driven novel, however, however, the addition of the story of partition of India and Pakistan add extra depth to the story which becomes a very memorable novel.
The author had a clear flowing prose style, which was almost poetic at times and was a to pleasure to read
The book is family set in Britain, but the issues covered would be accessible to readers from elsewhere
I read a copy on NetGalley, UK the book was published in the UK in January 2024 HQ General Fiction

I'm grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this captivating book. From the first page to the last, I was thoroughly engrossed in the story, unable to put it down. The characters were well-developed, the plot was gripping, and the writing was superb. Overall, I immensely enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to fellow readers. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this wonderful reading experience.

This was one of the first books I read in 2024 and I guarantee it's going to make it to my top ten of this year.

Sairish Hussain has done it again. This time she weaves together the story of partition, a father and son relationship and a grandfather and granddaughter relationship.

I can't even put together words in coherent sentences to tell you what I thought of this book but what I will say is that it has got everything I look for in a top novel:

· Complicated family dynamics
· Historical events (in this case it was the partition and Grenfell)
· Older people
· Generational secrets
· Community

Do yourself a favour and read this book. I promise you, you won't regret it.

This book delves into the depths of intergenerational grief, exploring themes of the past and present, community and loneliness, life and death, connection and neglect, and the impact of historical events such as the Partition and Grenfell. Through its poignant narrative, it evokes a profound sense of longing for the comfort of grandparents' voices and touch. Sairish Hussain's heartfelt storytelling resonates deeply, as she pours her heart and soul into the pages of this book.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

*I was gifted an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

This is a beautiful book about family relationships, mental health, grief and trauma, with such a heartwarming message. When Rubi moves in with her grandpa she doesn’t really know him that well, having sporadically visited his home in Bradford but never without someone else there. I loved seeing how their personalities clashed - with her grandpa being very traditional in comparison to teenage Rubi who loves loud music and spends most of her time online.

Throughout the novel they become closer, finding shared interests and opening up to each other about things they haven’t shared with anyone else, which made this incredibly emotional, especially reading about Yusuf’s struggle to deal with the trauma of being a Partition survivor and the memories that have haunted him since. Seeing this through Rubi’s eyes made this even more powerful, with the switch between POVs showing the effect the past can have across generations. The way Rubi and Yusuf supported each other throughout the novel was so heartwarming and I loved reading about them both. This wasn’t always an easy read, but it was such a worthwhile one.

Hidden Fires is a heart-warming family story which deals with difficult topics including, dementia, self-harm, loneliness, generational trauma, bullying and chronic illness. Despite this it has many beautiful moments and ultimately left me feeling hopeful.

The book begins at Ramadan 2017, the night of the Grenfell Tower fire. The fire affects both main characters greatly. For Yusuf it triggers nightmares from his past, whilst Rubi struggles to deal with the injustice of it.

Not long after Rubi is sent to stay with her grandfather Yusuf whom she has lost touch with over the years. The pair are very different on the surface, but both are feeling isolated and lonely albeit for different reasons. The relationship is initially awkward but they both work to understand each other, and a beautiful partnership develops. With Rubi living in his home Yusuf can no longer hide his nightmares and increasing moments of confusion. To her credit Rubi manages to get Yusuf to open up and eventually reveal the horrors he experienced during Partition.

The whole family has been drifting apart for years but by communicating their hopes and fears they heal and get back the closeness that they once had.

The writer manages to balance the difficult themes of the book with enough warm and touching moments to prevent it from becoming overly heavy. She also does a great job of writing each of the characters with a distance voice showing the difference in ages and perspectives perfectly.

Even though this is at it’s heart a family saga I was totally invested din the characters and the flow and pacing of the writing meant I found it difficult to put down. I am still thinking about the issues raised and will go back to read the authors debut whilst I eagerly await her next book. I highly recommend this one.

I would like to thank the author, HQ Stories and Netgalley for my ARC, which I received in return for an honest review.

Hidden Fires is an absolutely heart-breaking read which should come with a bi if tissues!! Following the death of her maternal grandmother, sixteen-year-old , Rubi is left with her eighty-year-old grandfather, Yusuf. Within the book becomes evident that everyone in the family is dealing with their own demon.
We see the perspectives of the three generations of the family and the impact historical events have on them. I have never heard about the partition before, and it made for devastating reading. This is a book that will stay with you for sometime after reading it.

Hidden Fires by Sairish Hussain is a powerful story about a grandfather (Yusuf) and his granddaughter (Rubi). It is both a beautiful and heartbreaking story set in modern day Bradford and Manchester with flashbacks to the Partition.
Themes include inter generational grief, familial ties, friendship and trauma, amongst many others.
I look forward to reading more from Sairish Hussain.

I loved The Family Tree so I was delighted for the opportunity to read this book. A heart wrenching, multi-generational story, told against the historical backdrop of Pakistan/India's partition. The character's are definitely memorable and the story will stay with me. One to recommend!

This book delves deep into family life in all its messiness. The family happens to be Pakistani. There is the octogenarian Yusuf, the head of the family. He lives in Bradford in quite a tight-knit Pakistani community and in grieving the death of his wife he is both fragile and lonely. His son Hassan, a social worker specialising in child protection, has settled in Manchester with his wife Michelle and his daughter Rubi. Hassan has been promoted and his extremely busy and stressful work life sucks all the energy from him that his family badly needs.

Michelle has a long-term condition that often makes her withdraw from life altogether and then there is Rubi in the midst of it all, longing for a greater closeness with her parents. She retreats into her room finding comfort in her music and blogging but she is lonely, frightened. She feels unlovable and has had a bad experience of bullying at school. In short – the family that years ago had started off with so much joy and promise has started to drift – things are not good anymore, none of them are happy.

When Michelle’s mother, Rubi’s grandmother, dies unexpectedly, the parents set off to make the funeral arrangements and the reluctant Rubi is left with Yusuf, the granddad she hardly knows anymore. It is heart-warming to witness how these two very slowly start to get to know each other. There is predictably much misunderstanding and disappointment but, in the end, they are left with a deep and loving appreciation of each other and are able to share even their most sacred secrets, their worst fears and the things that trigger them. Both gain access to the other person’s world and they form a bond founded in a deep understanding of each other and unconditional love.

Yusuf’s health is failing and he is forced to live with his son’s family in Manchester. None of them finds this change easy, but over time it becomes quite apparent that the old man needed as much looking after by the family as they needed him to take care of them. Together they make it work and slowly they regain some of the joy and light-heartedness of life they long for – something any family can relate to.
I loved the characters, the plot and the sentiments it conveys. – Altogether a very enjoyable read.

I am grateful to NetGalley and HQ for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I requested a copy of 'Hidden Fires' because I am due to attend the author's book event in London (January 2024).
'Hidden Fires' tells a story primarily through Yusuf and Rubi's perspectives. The chapters interweave historical and present-day events; cleverly describing the impact of trauma - from the British India partition in August 1947 to current day Social Media trolling and bullying.
I loved this book because of its desi vibe; an accurate reflection of culture and religion.
I can't wait to meet Sairish!
Thanks, NetGalley for an advance copy.

"Fires can be put out or contained. They never really die, though. They just remain hidden. Hidden until something causes them to ignite again."

Told from the perspectives of three different generations of the same family, Hidden Fires is a compelling read. Set in 2017, Yusuf is now over eighty years old. He is a first-generation immigrant, widowed and lives alone in his house in Bradford. His social life revolves around afternoon prayers at the mosque. It is when Yusuf watches live coverage of the Grenfell Tower fire, that painful memories from the past are reignited.

Yusuf's younger son Hassan lives in Manchester; married to Michelle who suffers from chronic pain and is father to sixteen year old Rubi. Rubi has had a traumatic adolescence. Bullied for being overweight, she is now at a new school and giving her GCSEs. After Michelle's mother suddenly passes away in Spain, Rubi is taken to Bradford to stay with her grandfather whilst her parents fly out to Spain.

"How many of them have talked about it? Or are they all the same: silent and stoic? These aren't people, they're little boxes of trauma. And they walk among us. They carry unimaginable secrets locked away in their hearts, the keys discarded on empty dirt roads around the world."

After a rocky start, what ensues is a bond between grandfather and grand daughter. Rubi learns of Yusuf's unspoken past - going through Partition as a child; painful, heart-wrenching experiences that he has carried with him for decades. Rubi also picks up on Yusuf's first signs of dementia.

Brilliantly written, Hidden Fires is emotional, heartbreaking and heartwarming - all in the same breath and will leave you with a lasting impact.

An emotionally charged and well written story that talks about memories, grief and relationship. The past and the present, old ways and modern world.
Loved it and it's highly recommended
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A book about inter generational grief, the past and present, community and loneliness, life and death, connection and neglect, youth and elders, the Partition and Grenfell and in summary, it has simply made me yearn for my grandparents voice and touch that little bit more than usual. Sairish Hussain manages to pour out her heart and soul into the pages of this book. It has moved me to the point where I will remember this story for a lifetime.

The year is 2017. Rubi feels like the most relatable fictional character I have ever met - she doesn't really seem fictional at all. A 16 year old from a mixed race bg, Rubi battles the peer pressure of a hostile school environment, not quite knowing what she wants to do with her life whilst sitting her GCSEs, she finds herself being lugged to her Grandad Yusuf's house to stay for a few weeks whilst her parents have to travel abroad. Yusuf, a first generation immigrant, originally from Pakistan, is now over 80 years old. He still lives in Bradford at the first home he ever moved into. The walls have seen so much, his marriage to Zareena, the birth of their three children who have now flown the nest and then the occasional (which have gradually become infrequent) visits from the family, now extending to grandchildren. The exploration of the relationship between Rubi and Yusuf, how they find their feet with each other, spreads warmth within you, the generational gap almost seeming like a language barrier they have to navigate around. They differ in all aspects, their way of living, perspectives and lifestyle and yet...on closer look, they both battle demons, ones which may not differ all that much from one another. The book covers so many important themes, humans and their ability to heal, and in a nuanced way. It is so hard hitting and brutal at times but so necessary and pressing that you want to read more. A particular highlight is Hussain's efforts to educate on the Partition within the context of the story, how it was a single community filled with harmony before the horror, no single villain but monsters all around and a shared loss and unspeakable devastation and destruction.

The style of writing is beautiful, eloquent, as if you are reading Urdu prose. The difference between Rubi and Yusuf's perspective is deliberately varied, showing their respective age, and yet so charming in both respects. I would recommend this book to everyone and though I have an e-copy, I have ordered a physical copy for myself because of how much I love this. I was in tears at so many points, it has equally crushed and liberated me. Please check trigger warnings before reading. Thank you @netgalley and @hqstories for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest unedited review.

Only those who lived through Partition in 1947 really know about the memories and spectres that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. Whatever I have heard of it from my own family members is beyond terrifying. Both the fact that the Division of India just did not have to happen, and the way in which it did happen, are as enraging as they are devastating.

This story tenderly unpacks some of those traumas, and demonstrates the long-term impacts that they have left on the survivors. Yusuf is now an old man, living in the UK in 2017, and struggling with his mental health as past horrors surface along with new nightmares triggered by the terrible fire near his home.

His granddaughter, Rubi, is struggling with her own problems. The product of a mixed race marriage, she is bullied at school for being overweight, and doesn't really have much to say to her paternal grandfather after they are pushed into closer proximity together by circumstance.

Meanwhile, Yusuf's son Hassan also has too much on his plate. With a sick wife, and his workaholic tendencies where his job as a social worker is concerned, he is failing to recognise how badly his daughter needs him, and feeling bad about the state of his elderly father.

The story covers all three of their perspectives, which lends richness and depth to the storytelling. This novel deals with a lot of painful issues: Partition, loneliness, alienation, dementia, bullying, body image, and so on, and so on. Yet it is a testament to the author's skill that the story flows beautifully and draws the reader into an immersive experience whilst reading it. Recommended.

The story of a Pakistani family in Northern England and how it copes with the past and the present. Yusuf, a widower in his 80s and a survivor of The Partition, is struggling with his age and the memories from his childhood, who increasingly haunt him, as his emotional self control waivers. Hassan, Yusuf's son, is struggling with juggling his commitments to his sick wife, his teenage daughter, his ailing father, and his job a social worker. Rubi, Hassan's daughter, struggles with her weight and bring bullied at school. As the story progresses we learn more about family member, and as the secret haunting Yusuf emerges, the healing process for him and the family as a whole starts.

The book's main themes, for me at least, were the relationship between a grandfather and his granddaughter, and how the generational distance and estrangement can still form the basis of healing and family over time. The other theme is, naturally, the terrible impact of The Partition on those who survived it, and the almost social stigma surrounding discussing it, leading to repressed emotions and aggravated trauma that just grows over time.

I loved this book, and struggled to stop crying for the last 30% of it, and literally cried non stop for most of this time. The book is not really a tearjerker, but rather a tender and gentle exploration of family and communication, and, most importantly, the healing power of the latter. This is the universal power of this book - too many families get by and sometimes even suffer in silence.

What I loved most is indeed this tender description of the characters and their emotional backstories. It's profound and humane and loving. It is difficult to not get affected by the protagonists, and not identify with their struggles and joys.

I also loved the pacing of the story. Despite it being essentially a family saga, it was hard to put down, and I kept wanting to find our what happens next.

The only thing that perhaps could be better is essentially the ending. While not necessarily "good", it does somehow come across as almost too perfect. But it does leave one with a smile, hope, and trust in humanity.

Recommend it to anyone with a family - or just anyone. It's a joyful and moving read.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Hidden Fires by Sairish Hussain is a powerful and absolutely heart-breaking novel that will mess with your emotions. It will make you angry as you witness the terrible consequences of man’s inhumanity to man, whilst simultaneously making you weep.
The novel is mainly set in Bradford in 2017, just at the time of the Grenfell Tower fire. The main characters are an eighty year old grandfather and his sixteen year old granddaughter. They are similar but different as both try to deal with their problems alone, whilst pretending all is well. “We’ve drifted away into our own corners of ourselves.” For the granddaughter, it is the bullies at school. For the grandfather it is guilt and loss that has followed him down seventy years after the dreadful events of partition in 1947 India and Pakistan.
The grandfather is not the only male, his age hiding guilty secrets connected with partition. Events haunted a generation. The reader is horrified and saddened for what theses young boys saw in 1947 – events, so shocking, they never left them. “We had to run for our lives from people who looked just like us, spoke like us, lived beside us.”
As her mother is ill and her father is a workaholic, the granddaughter is used to being alone. Her father is a social worker who helps other people’s kids but misses the trauma in his own daughter. “He’s too busy.”
The reader has great sympathies for both lead characters. We understand their isolation and loneliness. It is heartbreaking to hear the granddaughter say “Maybe I’m unlovable.”
There are many hard-hitting topics – partition which we need to be educated on, bullying, dementia, loss, long term illness, self-harm. We see how dementia affects the individual and the wider family. “Watching my father fade away.” It changes our loved ones beyond recognition.
There are moments that are beautiful to witness too. The developing bond between the two lead characters as they go from two virtual strangers to two perfectly choreographed loving family members. Awkwardness becomes a seamlessly perfect sequence as the share preparing a meal.
Hidden Fires is such a powerful novel. I could not put it down. It is a very necessary read as we need to know what happened in the past, in the hope that history does not repeat itself.
I received a free copy via the publishers. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

What a sad, sad novel. It took me while to get into this book and appreciate the sensitivity and empathy that the author portrayed in her writing. The starting point is the Grenfell Tower’s destruction by fire. Rubi, a teenage girl with mixed race parents, is at the centre of this story; a bit of a misfit who was bullied at school for being fat and different from the other pupils. The back story is the depressing scenes remembered by her grandfather at the time of the troubles ensuing the Partition of India and Pakistan and the loss of family members. As we progress through the novel, Rubi matures and develops a closer relationship with her grandfather by default when her parents make an urgent visit to Spain at the death of her English grandmother. Yusuf, Rubi’s grandfather, relives his experiences of Partition and the death of his youngest brother Ali, whilst dementia takes hold.

A heartbreaking , emotional rollercoaster of a read, beautifully written. My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers HarperCollins for this advance copy.