Mira Sethi’s debut—read by the author herself, who is also an actress, as evidenced by her effortless narration—is a tapestry of secret relationships and performance of all kinds.  In a few connected stories, the wife of a wealthy politician hopes to run for office following her husband’s retirement, her campaign a contradictory performance of working-class advocacy, Pakistani womanhood, and self-preservation.  Amid whirlwind trysts, drug dependency defies generation, as does misogyny.  These stories are colored by Pakistan’s complex political environment, and they all seem to ask, When must we perform?