Book Club Guide

Home Fire

by Kamila Shamsie · 2017 · Literary Fiction

Key themes

A contemporary Antigone — what a sister owes a brother the state has condemned
British Muslim identity under suspicion — and what citizenship actually guarantees
Love and politics colliding — Eamonn and Aneeka across an impossible divide

About this book

Isma, Aneeka and Parvaiz Pasha are the British children of a jihadist father; when Parvaiz is recruited to ISIS, his sister Aneeka's relationship with the son of the Home Secretary becomes a test of loyalty, love and the limits of the state. Shamsie's Women's Prize-winning novel is a contemporary retelling of Sophocles' Antigone, asking what a sister owes a brother the state has declared an enemy.

Published in 2017, Home Fire won the Women's Prize for Fiction. Shamsie has described it as a direct response to contemporary debates about British citizenship, radicalisation and the rhetoric around 'home-grown terrorists.'

Discussion questions

Home Fire is explicitly modelled on Sophocles' Antigone. How does Shamsie adapt the ancient structure — and what does the contemporary setting reveal about the original play's concerns with state power and family loyalty?
Parvaiz's radicalisation is shown with sympathy as well as horror. How does Shamsie develop this — and what is she saying about how young men are drawn toward extremism?
Aneeka's relationship with Eamonn, the Home Secretary's son, becomes a test of loyalty on every side. How does Shamsie develop this relationship — as genuine love, as political instrument, or both?
The novel moves between five perspectives. How does this structure work — and which perspective do you find most morally challenging?
Home Fire won the Women's Prize for Fiction. What does it do that earns this recognition — and how does the Antigone parallel deepen rather than constrain the contemporary story?