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How ‘This Is Where the Serpent Lives’ explores class and corruption

January 29, 2026

Daniyal Mueenuddin spent a decade after finishing his 2009 prize-winning short story collection, “In Other Rooms, Other Wonders,” writing a nonfiction book about his mother and “the complicated circumstances surrounding her death and her life.”

But he says he never got it quite right, so he put it aside and returned to fiction.

The result, “This Is Where the Serpent Lives,” has earned rave reviews for the way it captures life in Pakistan across a half-century, although there’s some disagreement in the press about whether it’s a novel or a collection of linked novellas.

“I think it’s both,” Muenuddin said dryly.

There’s no single protagonist. The first section, “The Golden Boy,” stars Yazid, a smart and savvy orphan who has a deft touch with people and life but is locked into place by class and caste. Those restrictions relegate him to secondary character status in the next three sections – he is successful as a chauffeur and servant to the wealthy, but that’s it.

The next two sections, “Muscle” and “The Clean Release,” shift to the affluent and educated. First comes Rustom, who returns from America determined to modernize the family farm and shed the corruption that plagues its operation and the violence used to control the lower classes. But he finds that the old ways maintain a tight grip. Then we see Hisham, who tolerates the old ways that allow him to float through a life of luxury, with a beautiful and smart wife, Shahnaz, several mistresses, numerous homes and plenty of time flying to the West.

Finally, the book tells the story of Hisham’s brilliant and ambitious young servant, Saqib. He rises to power under Yazid’s tutelage, but Saqib is not satisfied with the limitations that Yazid settled for. So he devises a plan that will not only make him wealthy but will elevate him to the equal of those for whom he toils … if he can get away with it.

Mueenuddin, like his characters, studied in America and went back home to Pakistan to run his family farm. He also became a corporate lawyer before turning to writing.

The author discussed the book and his own farm in a recent video conversation. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. Did you consciously move on from Yazid’s story when his life hit a barrier imposed by Pakistan’s hierarchy?

Yes. Both Yazid and Saqib are young men, full of ambition. But Yazid was content to achieve a certain status and then to stay there. He doesn’t care about money and doesn’t want to reach any higher. He has what he wants, which is status and respect.

Saqib is very different. I don’t think that there is anything that Hisham and Shahnaz could give him that would be sufficient. He doesn’t just want what they have. He wants to become like them.

They’re born in very different eras. Saqib is 40 years younger, and people in Pakistan are increasingly unwilling to accept the status roles that they’re assigned at birth and increasingly less likely to accept merely taking the crumbs dropped from a higher table. People want to be sitting at the table.

One reason why the feudal system was quite stable for a long period is that there was no outside information flooding in, showing people that this was not the ideal setup. Saqib sees outside sources of information. That’s one of the reasons one can be hopeful about the future – people are more likely to understand that they have choices and that things could be different.

And the story of Saqib is not over. He gets a little bit of a check and in a very unpleasant form. But he’s going to brush himself off and get back on his feet and try hard, fail, fail again, fail better. And I think he’s going to keep doing that until he succeeds.

Q. Are you showing how easily people are corrupted or how a problematic system fosters that corruption but can be changed?

I think it’s both. Look at America. At the moment, this is a very corrupt system, and I don’t see that ending anytime soon. Thirty years ago, we couldn’t have imagined that there’d be this scale of corruption so openly. It’s just incredibly inefficient and ultimately will lead to bad results, which I think we are seeing now.

Q. You tried to change the system with your own farm, hiring and paying differently. Did it work?

When I arrived, I was clueless. I wanted to use American or Western principles to run my business. The local people laughed in my face because I was trying to break down power structures.

But if you align everybody’s interests well enough, and if you’re vigilant enough, you can prevent corruption. When I first came to my farm, it was more corrupt than other people’s farms, because my father lived 13 hours away and had other farms and lots on his plate. He wasn’t paying particular attention to his business – all he cared about was maintaining his comfortable lifestyle.

It took me a hell of a long time to change things. But by paying very high salaries, paying incentives, taking care of the people who work on my farm and who live on my farm in various ways, I’ve gotten it so there’s a lot less corruption on my farm.

Corruption is people saying, “We don’t like the way the system is built, so we’re not going to follow the system.” The problem is that it just becomes, “Who can get away with more?”

When the apple pie is sitting on the windowsill and it smells delicious and you really want a slice of it, you don’t get to just reach over and grab a piece. We’ve all baked this pie together. And at the end of the day, we’ll divide it up together.

We’re more prosperous now because corruption is highly inefficient.

It’s taken me a long time, but I’ve convinced these guys. I like to think so.

Q. What was your motivation? Was it about efficiency and getting it right or about being a writer who empathizes with those in less fortunate circumstances and understands why they were breaking the rules?

I’m a neat freak. I love things that are tidy and clean. And it really bothered me that these people who are working for me could never have respect for me because when you’re stealing from somebody, you think “I’ve gotten one over on them.” It was very important to me just to get it in order.

Everybody’s much happier when the rules are clear, and the people who live by the rules are amply rewarded. It seems fair and just and what people want more than anything, particularly in a place where it’s not available, is fairness and justice. Pakistan is incredibly unfair and unjust because it’s all about might makes right.

Q. There’s one moment in the book where you, as the author, appear and you say a character “got away with his graces and appeal partly, I think, because of his peculiar appearance.” Why slip into the first person there?

I was bored one afternoon and just thought, “Hey, there’s a little bit of graffiti in the corner.” I just thought it was funny. I was wondering if anybody would notice at all. It was like signing the canvas.

Orange County Register

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How ‘This Is Where the Serpent Lives’ explores class and corruption

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