The Clinging Thing

Ahmed strikes a moving balance between the precise, the elegiac, and the profound. How exciting to be immersed in a novel with such transcendent ambitions.

Jumaana Abdu

The Clinging Thing is a tender, clear-eyed coming-of-age novel about grief, faith, hope and the women who make our freedom possible. Munira writes with a strikingly distinct voice, bringing Bangladeshi-Australian life and Western Sydney to the centre of the literary landscape in a story that will resonate with younger and older readers alike.

Simon Rannard

The Clinging Thing cracks the world open into its most primordial and intimate parts. These characters attain a kind of heroism through such varied pursuits as mathematics, intercessory prayers and blackberry jam. Like a thereminist, Ahmed plays the rests along with the notes. It is the kind of purified, ethereal writing you’ll want to press your ear up against.

Vivian Pham