Also an essayist,[2] he was a winner of the William Hazlitt Essay Prize 2013 for "The Shadow of the Scroll: Reconstructing Islam's Origins".
[3] Rahim's critical writing includes pieces on V. S. Naipaul, Kazuo Ishiguro, Clive James and Geoffrey Hill.
[4] After studying English at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he edited the student newspaper,[5] Rahim worked as a teacher before focusing on a career in literary journalism.
[9] The New Statesman called the book "sparkling ... a novel of charm and compassion",[10] and it was described in The Guardian as "a tender, pin-sharp portrait of a marriage and a community.
... a wonderful achievement; an invigorating reminder of the power fiction has to challenge lazy stereotypes, and stretch the reader’s heart",[11] while The Telegraph reviewer concluded: "Elegant, provocative, and clear-eyed, this beautifully pitched novel asks new questions about what imagination means, and what it costs.