'Powerful and heartbreaking'
Observer
'Gripping'
The Times
'A remarkable novel and one of the best debuts I've ever read'
Sarah Winman, author of Still Life
'Heartbreaking and heart-warming'
Independent
'Powerful and moving... Every character springs from the page'
Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures
Delhi, 1946. Ma and Bappu teach at the local university. Their fourteen-year-old daughter - precocious, headstrong Alma - is soon to be married: Alma is mostly interested in the wedding shoes and spinning wild stories for her little sister Roop.
Times are bad for girls in India: the long-awaited independence from British rule brings unrest that threatens to unravel the rich tapestry of Delhi. And when Partition happens overnight, Ma, Bappu, Alma and Roop are forced to find new and increasingly desperate ways to survive.
But the power of hope is an extraordinary thing...
