When Blackbirds Fly

Life is sweet growing up in Aizawl with his family and friends and all the narrator wants is a peaceful life. But the independence movement in Mizoram means that regardless of what he wants he is drawn inexorably into a world where everyone has to choose where they stand ...Set in the initial stages of the two-decade-long struggle for Mizoram's independence and against the backdrop of the 1966 bombing of Aizawl this stunning debut novel is an universal story of how individual dreams and lives are shattered when larger conflicts arise. Review Through the eyes of the narrator Hannah masterfully - and at times poetically - transforms pages of history into sentimental reality. Facts become experiences dates transform into a ticking clock and a slice of historic news comes to life. -- Sahana Iyer ―""The price of our past"" The New Indian Express Published On 2022-03-12The author's greatest achievement is to get into the skin of her protagonist so smoothly that when she pens his innermost thoughts there isn't a trace of artificiality of putting an adult's words or feelings into the mind of a child. The language is deceptively simple. There is no attempt to underplay the horror of what transpires but it is conveyed with a light touch that makes the reader turn the pages fast. The novel is only 120 pages but within it a whole world turned upside down by conflict is captured. The author deeply understands the society she is writing about but at the same time what she conveys is universal. ―Ukhrul Times Published On 2022-03-11 About the Author Hannah Lalhlanpuii is a PhD research scholar in Mizoram University. Her area of interest lies in postcolonial studies trauma writing and children's literature. Her poems and short stories have been published locally in Mizoram. Apart from creative writing she also works as a freelance writer for English news outlets in the state. Hannah is currently living with her family in Aizawl Mizoram.