Memory of Light

Preparations for King George the Third's fiftieth birthday gala are in full swing in Lucknow. As poets and performers vie to be part of the show Chapla Bai a dazzling courtesan from Kashi briefly enters this competitive world and sweeps the poet Nafis Bai off her feet. An irresistible passion takes root expanding and contracting like a wave of light. Over two summers aided by Nafis's friends the poets Insha and Rangin and Sharad himself in love with a man they exchange letters and verses feeding each other the heady fruit of desire. When Chapla leaves for home they part with the dream of building a life together. Can their relationship survive the distances?Narrated in the voice of Nafis Memory of Light weaves an exquisite web of conversations songs reminiscences around a life-changing love. Review Set in the intricate world of akotha during the period of the Awadh dynasty this novel creates through Nafis Bai a portrait of love and longing with great poignancy -- Manju KapurA compelling novel sketching the rich life of women it creates an atmosphere visual sensual wistful ephemeral. I fell quiet for a while after reading it savouring its effect -- Geetanjali ShreeThat rare thing-a scholarly page-turner! -- Suniti NamjoshiRuth Vanita's captivating novel of same-sex love reads like an exquisite and intoxicating prose poem -- Manil Suri author of ""The Death of Vishnu""Vanita's writing is powerfully evocative and conjures up the quotidian in the quarters of courtesans perfect to the minutest detail. -- TelegraphIn Memory of Light the reader sees a world that is dazzlingly syncretic and one that celebrates love above all. -- India Today About the Author Ruth Vanita taught at Delhi University for twenty years and is now professor at the University of Montana. She was founding co-editor ofManushi 1978-90. She is the author of several books includingLove's Rite Same-Sex Marriages in Modern India (2005)Gender Sex and the City Urdu Rekhti Poetry in India 1780-1870 (2012) andDancing with the Nation Courtesans in Bombay Cinema (2017). She is the co-editor ofSame-Sex Love in India A Literary History and has translated many works of fiction and poetry from Hindi and Urdu to English most notablyChocolate Stories on Male-Male Desire by Pandey Bechan Sharma 'Ugra' (2008). This is her first work of fiction. She divides her time between Missoula and Gurgaon.