Short description
Hardly a conventional family memoir, Green-eyed Thieves tells the story of the fortunes of a family of crooks – the green-eyed thieves of the title.
Long description
The mother, a university lecturer, is an accomplished shoplifter; the father a master thief whose ingenuity extends to relieving the Aga Khan of his wardrobe of expensive suits – they both happen to be the same size. An uncle, universally known as Ten-Per-Cent Farouk, lives with the family in Fordsburg, a suburb of Johannesburg.
The narrator of Imraan Coovadia’s wickedly humorous novel is Firoze. A dreamer and a reader, he is radically different from, but inextricably bound to, his identical twin brother Ashraf. The twins’ lives progress through a mind-boggling series of adventures that range from a masterful heist at Sun City to appearing at the White House under false pretences.
Minor characters include Mohammed Atta (of 9/11 fame), US President George Bush, a Pakistani Brigadier in Peshawar, and – the cherry on the top – the woman loved by both twins who is more than their match in all things, good or bad.