N ow and again you read a book that you realise will change the way you think and In the Light of What We Know by Zia Haider Rahmen is one of those books. I've just taken a copy back to the library after spending at least three weeks reading it and I was even tempted to keep it for a bit longer to go over a few sections again. Take note of the title as events in the final chapters throw a different light on all the thousands of words that have gone before, much like the ending in The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. The part of the story that you didn't know is never spelled out, but glimpsed as shadows flickering in a crowded room. Much of the book is set out in narrative memories and each chapter is preceded by excerpts from other books. Ignore these at you peril as they indicate the direction of travel and are not simply window dressing. One of them taken from John Donne (Meditation 17) provides the guiding light for 'what we know' at the end and Rah...