Fugitive Histories

Malas home in Delhi is empty save for a lifetime of sketches left behind by her late husband Asad and the memories they conjure. Sifting through them on restless afternoons and sleepless nights Mala summons the ghosts of their past. As their story unfolds others emerge of Sara their daughter who unable to commit to a cause that will renew her faith in her parents ideals and her own embarks on a search for purpose that brings to Ahmedabad the venue of recent carnage of Yasmin whom Sara meets across a lately created ‘border a survivor of mayhem secretly dreaming of college and the miraculous return of her missing brother Akbar of innumerable other lives trapped in limbo. Review Her prose [has] an exquisite awareness . . . the daily lives of individuals and those of history appear to blur and seep through time and memory till [they] become all of a piece. Its a measure of Hariharans tenacity as a writer that even while moving from the very same cut-rate story of communal hate and horror that has been played so many times in the media by social activists and documentary film-makers she is able to colour it with her own brand of fierce integrity -- India TodayAn unblinking look at subtle and not-so-subtle religious and cultural prejudices a compassionate controlled compelling narrative -- MintSpartan elegant and nuanced prose . . . deftly weaves political events into private lives . . . At times lyrical at times luminous and sharply perceptiveFugitive Histories is perhaps Hariharans most mature work to date -- OutlookA powerful read . . . about people bewilderingly adrift trying to find a place a reason . . . once the very foundations of their lives have been betrayed about a nationalism that needs to be more human this is a quiet powerful churning in which the whole heavy weight of history comes to rest on you asking of you an engagement -- First CityTo Githa Hariharans great credit she looks unflinchingly into the ugliness of sectarian destructiveness and strife with an almost photographically realistic lens but always remains within earshot of her protagonists small personal voices . . . As subtly constructed as a Chinese box concealing narratives within narratives and yet remaining blindingly clear in all its exposition of public and private realities. Complex though it isFugitive Histories is Hariharans most compellingly simple book -- TehelkaThere are many compelling stories wrapped in the pages ofFugitive Histories but none more so than Yasmins. The revisiting of life in Gujarat after 2002 and Yasmins story in particular draws you to Githa Hariharans powerful new novel like little else. Before we get to Yasmin the writer holds up a mirror to other aspects of society not least the purpose of art -- Financial ExpressMultiple narratives . . . constantly shifting from present to past seamlessly connecting the two . . . effortless straddling of different geographies. . . . Delightfully nuanced . . . strong political undertones . . . deft use of strong metaphors -- New Indian ExpressSparkling clear prose . . . lays bare disturbing truths . . . a distressing but redemptive book -- ElleMemory mingles with documentary and personal histories become the filter through which public record is viewed . . . Hariharans writing in spare punctuated with passages of brilliant clarity and compassion -- Verve About the Author Githa Hariharan has written novels short fiction and essays over the last three decades. Her highly acclaimed work includes The Thousand Faces of Night which won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book in 1993 the short story collection The Art of Dying the novels The Ghosts of Vasu Master When Dreams Travel In Times of Siege and Fugitive Histories and the collection of essays Almost Home Cities and Other Places. For more on this Delhi-based author and her work visit www. githahariha