[How it Works](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/how-it-works/) [Bookshop](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/books/bindery/) [Publishing](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/publishing/) [Team](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/team/) [Contact](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/contact/) Log in or Sign up The Centre Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi Save to Your Books [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/10458/9781638931621) [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1638931623?tag=thisstoryai04-20) 100% of affiliate revenue supports Boundless Press A New Yorker Best Book of the Year • A New York Times Editors' Choice • An Amazon Editors’ Pick for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense “The most fascinating debut I've read in years—enigmatic, biting, absurd, and right when you think you've got it figured out, utterly horrifying.” —Daniel Kraus, New York Times bestselling author of _Whalefall_ and _The Shape of Water_ (with Guillermo del Toro) “A gripping, surreal mystery about language, identity, and greed.” —Peng Shepherd, bestselling author of _The Cartographers_ “The Centre draws you in with a gentle hand until it throws the mallet down.” —Chelsea G. Summers, author of _A Certain Hunger_ “The Centre is as haunting as it is tempting; this book devoured me back.” —Sarah Gailey, author of _Just Like Home_ and _Eat the Rich_ In this “dazzling” speculative debut, a London-based Pakistani translator furthers her stalled career by attending a mysterious language school that boasts near-instant fluency—but at a secret, sinister cost (Gillian Flynn). Anisa Ellahi dreams of being a translator of “great works of literature,” but mostly spends her days subtitling Bollywood movies and living off her parents’ generous allowance. Adding to her growing sense of inadequacy, her mediocre white boyfriend, Adam, has successfully leveraged his savant-level aptitude for languages into an enviable career. But when Adam learns to speak Urdu practically overnight, Anisa forces him to reveal his secret. Adam begrudgingly tells her about The Centre, an elite, invite-only program that guarantees complete fluency in any language, in just ten days. This sounds, to Anisa, like a step toward the life she’s always wanted. Stripped of her belongings and all contact with the outside world, she enrolls and undergoes The Centre’s strange and rigorous processes. But as Anisa enmeshes herself further within the organization, seduced by all that it’s made possible, she soon realizes the hidden cost of its services. By turns darkly comic and surreal, and with twists as page-turning as they are shocking, _The Centre_ journeys through Karachi, London, and New Delhi, interrogating the sticky politics of language, translation, and appropriation along the way. Through Anisa’s addictive tale of striving and self-actualization, Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi ultimately asks the reader: What is the real price we pay in our scramble to the center? Show more Get the Bindery app * * * Posts about this title from Boundless Press [Boundless Press\\ \\ Jananie\\ \\ • Apr 10](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/) [all the books I want to read this spring 🌸📚 a long overdue book haul!](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/iepx0g2gN4dwIfSOC5De/) open for an exclusive giveaway! 👀 * * * 22 books 15 [4](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/iepx0g2gN4dwIfSOC5De/#comments) Posts about this book from across Bindery [Boundless Press\\ \\ Jananie\\ \\ • Apr 10](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/) [all the books I want to read this spring 🌸📚 a long overdue book haul!](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/iepx0g2gN4dwIfSOC5De/) open for an exclusive giveaway! 👀 * * * 22 books 15 [4](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/iepx0g2gN4dwIfSOC5De/#comments) [Bookwyrm Ink\\ \\ Bookwyrm Ink\\ \\ • Oct 2 2025](https://azthiabookwyrm.binderybooks.com/) Join for free [71 Books I totally recommend. 📚In song!](https://azthiabookwyrm.binderybooks.com/item/cFFBpRuzVGt7K7eg3sTJ/) 71 Books I totally recommend. 📚In song! * * * 68 books 3 [Bookwyrm Ink\\ \\ Bookwyrm Ink\\ \\ • Jun 7 2025](https://azthiabookwyrm.binderybooks.com/) Join for free [Books that take you to new worlds. For better or for worse😅](https://azthiabookwyrm.binderybooks.com/item/dpWub8eRKhmFZYAbpc1l/) Some books make our world seem a little bit better. And some not so much.. * * * 4 books [Madisoncanread\\ \\ Madison\\ \\ • May 22 2025](https://madisoncanread.binderybooks.com/) Join for free [Books that deserve more hype](https://madisoncanread.binderybooks.com/item/7MbLQ1f1AoOhKzmvwrUf/) Books that deserve more hype #madisoncanread #horrorbooks #thrillerbooks #underratedbooks #booksthatdeservemorehype #Inverted * * * 7 books