A history of burning

Oza, Janika

£16.99

India, 1898: Pirbhai is thirteen when he steps into a dhow on the vague promise of work – his family is suffering and he will do anything to help. Forced to labour for the British on the East Africa Railway, he has no money, no voice, no power. Sonal is fierce and loving, always willing to fight for what she believes in. When Pirbhai, weathered from his time on the railway but not broken, walks into her father’s shop, she knows he is part of her future, and together they set out for a new life in Uganda. So begins the story of their family as they scatter across the world, fleeing the brutality of Idi Amin.

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Publish Date: 04/05/2023

Description

FOUR GENERATIONS. THREE SISTERS. ONE DIVIDED NATION.

‘A remarkable debut . . . haunting, symphonic’ New York Times

India, 1898. Pirbhai is thirteen when he steps into a dhow on the vague promise of work. The voyage is long. He has no money, no voice, no power — and will make impossible choices in the name of survival.

Sonal is fierce and loving, always willing to fight for what she believes in. When a young man called Pirbhai walks into her father’s shop in Kenya, she knows he is part of her future. Together they set out for a new life in Uganda.

Their granddaughters, three sisters, come of age in a divided nation. Latika falls headlong into the student protest movement. Mayuri’s ambitions will take her far from home. And fearless Kiya will have to carry the weight of her family’s past.

Finally, parents, children and grandchildren will scatter across the world, fleeing the brutality of Idi Amin, forging new paths in London, marching for equality in 1990s Canada, searching for a safe mooring. But under everything lies a secret. And one day, a letter arrives that will fan its embers into a flame.

Read one family’s search for a better life in this immersive, kaleidoscopic debut for fans of Half of a Yellow Sun, Homegoing and Pachinko

‘Vast and intricate, alight with love and contained fury… A book I want to press into readers’ hands and discuss for hours’ Megha Majumdar, author of A BURNING

Additional information

Weight 629 g
Dimensions 240 × 162 × 36 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

352

Language

English

Edition

Hardback original

Dewey

813.6 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K