MAP AND THE SCISSORS

<p>WINNER OF THE TATA LITERATURE LIVE! BOOK OF THE YEAR (FICTION) 2022</p> <p><em>'You cannot force two nations to live together any more than you can force two people' he says quietly.</em></p> <p><em>Fatima smiles feeling a slight thrill of victory. 'Divorce.'</em></p> <p><em>'Pakistan.'</em></p> <p>Two intense inflexible personalities duel over a question that will decide the fate of millions: one nation-or two? </p> <p>Jinnah the consummate ruthlessly analytical gentleman in a tailored suit starts out sceptical of those who come to his door proposing a 'Land of the Pure' but ends up founding exactly such a country. Gandhi the religious visionary in homespun khadi experiments with Truth in his quest for one India-only to witness in anguish the bloody birth of two nations. </p> <p><em>The Map and the Scissors </em>is a novel about the epic origin story of modern South Asia brought to life by two London-educated lawyers mirror-image rivals who dreamt the same dream of freedom-in catastrophically incompatible ways.</p>