India, Aug. 8 -- At first glance, Allah Miyan's Workshop seems to be about 14-year-old Gibran, whose only interest lies in flying kites, running away from the burden of studying at the madrasa, giving the animals around him monikers that really fit their personality, and generally causing mischief and hullabaloo like any other teenage boy. But beneath the veil of his childlike enthusiasm lies the honey-coated knife of the human condition, piercing through the wonder with a harshness that is both heartbreakingly ruthless yet flamboyantly unattached.

Originally written in Urdu by Mohsin Khan and translated into English by Maaz Bin Bilal, the novel is set in Awadh, where Gibran lives with his sister Nusrat and deeply religious parents, simp...