Zarina Divided by Reem Faruqi

Zarina Divided is a story told in free verse about one family's experience during the Partition in 1947.

Zarina's family are Muslim and her mother, a petite woman, is expecting another baby. Eleven-year-old Zarina lives in Poona, India with her father Abajan, her mother, and her three brothers, Wahab (15), Qadir (13), and Adil (7). Their home  was once Zarina'a great-great-grandfather's.  It is a bungalow with twelve rooms and a wrap-around verandah, as well as a walled garden. Beyond the garden walls are sellers of chai, samosa, sabzi (vegetables) and bananas. Zarina's family have servants: a mali (gardener) named Irfan, a chawkidar (watchman) named Mahesh, Khushboo who is their ayah (nanny) and Basheer who is their khansama (cook). 

Zarina's father and her uncles are always listening to the radio, leaving her wondering what is going on. She hears the names of Quaid-e-Azam, Gandhi-ji, Nehru, and Jinnah Zindabad. Zarina knows there is talk of splitting the land into two countries, Pakistan in the west for Muslims and India in the east for Hindus. Zarina's father is obsessed with the idea of Pakistan, a country just for Muslims and is working for the Muslim League. His friend is Quaid-e-Azam whose real name is Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the force behind the partition.

At school, Zarina and her friends wonder who is leaving and who is staying. But their teacher, Mrs. Nizami

Zarina's aunt, her father's younger sister whom he calls Pyari Jan which means "Loved One", is married in their garden. Abajan invites not only their famiily's hired help, Khushboo, irfan, Basheer and Makesh, but also Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his sister, Fatima Jinnah. Zarina is not happy about this and does offer these two special guests the sherbet as her mother asks. Zarina realizes that if Pakistan is created they will lose their home in Poona. 

As independence from Britain moves closer to reality, and the formation of Pakistan and India also appears to be happening, Mrs. Nizami reminds her students that they are all human regardless of their faith. She gives each student a brand new pencil, something that thrills Zarina.

Zarina is furious when her best friend, Jahana reveals that her family is leaving soon for Pakistan. She tells Zarina that if she stays in Poon, like their friend Geeta, she is Hindu. The next afternoon Jahana comes by to say goodbye as her family is leaving that night.

Things begin to change in Zarina's neighborhood: the normally noisy roads are now quiet with the sellers no longer yelling about goods for sale. Khushboo teaches Zarina how to wash their clothes, how to iron Abajan's handkerchiefs, the kurtas and shalwars, and how to sweep the floor with the jharoo. Geeta is no longer allowed to come visit because she is Hindu and Zarina is Muslim and when she sees Zarina, she throws stones at her. 

In Poona there are riots with people being hurt and dying. Zarina and her brothers are no longer allowed to attend school. Her father decides that they will leave in two weeks for Pakistan, a decision that greatly upsets Zarina, especially when she learns that Khushboo will not be going with them. Khushboo explains to Zarina that she cannot come because she is Hindu and she has to stay with her family who are in Poona.

But when a mob arrives at Zarina's home looking for Muslims to kill, Zarina's father decides the must leave that night. It will be a treacherous, chaotic trip that leads to many changes for Zarina and her family.

Discussion

Although Zarina Divided is a work of historical fiction, it is loosely based on the experiences of the author's maternal grandmother, Zarina. As with the Zarina in the novel, Reem Faruqi's grandmother lived in Poona, India in a house with a large garden. Zarina's father (the author's great-grandfather Ahmed E. H. Jaffer) was a politician, elected to the Central Legislative Assembly in 1934. He was a member of the All India Muslim League that came to press for a separate Muslim country, Pakistan. 

As with the character in the novel, Zarina left India for the new country of Pakistan via a ship, the Shirala. And she did attend boarding school, St. Denys, but only after everyone in the family gave their approval by signing the petition her father drew up. The lone exception was her mother (the author's great-grandmother). And like Zarina in the novel, she thrived at the boarding school.

Zarina Divided manages to portray some of the reality of the Partition of India in 1947 from a Muslim point of view. Zarina's family are Muslim and when the Partition happens they are caught in India, now a country for Hindus only. This means they must travel to what was once western India, to the new state called Pakistan. Likewise, those Hindus living in Pakistan must leave their homes and move east into India. This mass migration according to the Author's Note at the back, "was one of the bloodiest upheavals in human history and was the largest mass migration of the twentieth century. Over the course of a year, an estimated fifteen million people crossed borders that were drawn up in a rush by the British Empire."

The mass migration was rife with violence and bloodshed, nd Zarina's family experienced some of that. Their trip out of Poona, India to Karachi, Pakistan is harrowing for Zarina and her family from the very beginning. The train station is chaotic, the trains packed both within and on top with people. They lose the youngest boy, Adil but Abajan is able to find him and bring him back to the train. Zarina's family barely escape being murdered on the train when a mob looking for Muslims board the train. They are hidden in a bathroom by the station manager. The trip on the Shirala is also challenging but in a different way: sea sickness, and crowded conditions with distressed children and women. 

While the author indicates that there was much killing and violence, she also highlights acts of mercy by Hindus and Muslims. For example, when a Hindu mob comes to their home in Poona, looking to kill Zarina's family, Mahesh, their Hindu watchman saves them by hiding them in the bathroom and telling the mob the family has moved. Adil who became separated from the family at the train station is also saved in what could have been a devastating situation. Abajan tells the family upon his return with Adil, 

"I saw him crying, he says.

A Hindu woman was holding him up,

asking people who he belonged to.

If it wasn't for her,

we wouldn't have found him..."

In Karachi, it is Zarina's family's turn to protect someone from harm. The house they have been allotted belongs to Rupi, a Sikh woman who is not happy with this arrangement. However, when a Muslim mob arrives, Zarina's parents hide the lady in the bathroom and turn away the mob. Rupi is grateful but nevertheless decides to leave her home. Abajan gives her the address of their old house in Poona, recognizing the injustice that's been done to her and hoping in some small way to address that.

Zarina and her family seem more fortunate than many people were during the partition. Zarina is eventually sent to a private school. This request is not without intense inner conflict for Zarina, She is Zarina divided: she desires to be a good daughter but she also wants a good education. All her family members sign the petition to allow her to attend a private school, except Zarina's mother. This creates tension between mother and daughter. Zarina feels that she has hurt her mother by leaving for school. However, both her older brother Wahab and Khushboo explain that she has done nothing wrong but that her mother is not well. Eventually Zarina and her mother reconcile with her mother telling Zarina how proud she is of her determination to learn and get an education. 

Life at the private school, St. Denys, also provides challenges for Zarina and opportunities for personal growth too. The school has a small group of students made up of Muslims and those British who have stayed behind after the Partition. Zarina befriends a British girl, Daphne Drinkwater. However one of the Muslim students, Sidra, is openly prejudiced towards the British girls. She tells Zarina that she needs to "stick to your kind of people", that is people who are brown or Muslim. Sidra talks only to the classmates who are like her, while treating the white students as though they are enemies. Finally, Zarina confronts Sidra,

"You're not better than anyone else.

You need to give people a chance

whether they look like you

or not,

whether they act like you

or not.

We are all the same kind of people,

HUMAN"

Although Zarina's words are harsh, she is happy that she didn't physically push Sidra as she might have done when she lived in Poona. Zarina remembers her bad temper and is trying to overcome it. So when she sees the sadness in Sidra, walking alone a few days later, Zarina wants to be kind. She loops Sidra arm-in-arm with herself and Daphne and notices the small smile on Sidra's face. 

Zarina also begins to assert herself when it comes to the practice of her faith. She makes the decision to fast for Ramadan. When she and her Muslim friends decide to eat Sehri and are caught, Zarina explains to the matron why this is important to them and allowances are made.

The novel ends on a happy note, with Zarina returning home for the winter holidays, reuniting with her family but also her best friend, Jahana who is interested in the attending the private school. While the novel does offer some information on the effects of the partition of India into two countries it is also about a young girl's journey towards womanhood and independence. Zarina Divided does offer readers a map of Zarina's journey from Poona to Karachi to Muree.

Book Details:

Zarina Divided by Reem Faruqi
New York: Harper Collins Children's Books     2025

325 pp.

Amil and the After by Veera Hiranandani

Amil And The After is the sequel to The Night Diary, which chronicles the experiences of a fictional Hindu family during the Partition.

Twelve-year-old twins Amil and Nisha, their father, Dadi their grandmother and Kazi the family's Muslim servant, are now living in Bombay, India. It is  January 1st, 1948. Last year, India's Prime Minister Nehru had announced that at midnight on August 14th, India would become independent from British rule and be partitioned into two countries, India and Pakistan. When this happened, India was to be for Hindus, Sikhs and non-Muslims, while Pakistan would be the home for Muslims. As a result, Amil's family had to flee their home in Mirpur Khas which was now part of Pakistan as they are Sindh Hindu and travel to Jodhpur, India. The journey was treacherous with Amil almost losing his life. The Partition had resulted in people across India and Pakistan fighting and killing each other. After a short stay in Jodhpur, Amil's family moved to Bombay for Papa's new job at the hospital. He is covering for a doctor who may or may not return.  

Amil loves to draw but finds reading and school work difficult. The letters of the alphabet all look the same or flipped, making learning difficult for Amil. Nisha suggests that he draw for Mama, as a way of expressing his pent-up feelings. Amil decides to do this.

One Saturday on their way to visit Papa's cousin Ashok, they pass a refugee camp in the old military barracks. Amil recognizes the Sindh words being spoken in the camp. Six months ago, these people had been living normal lives in what was now Pakistan. Now they are living in terrible conditions and seeing the camp upsets Amil.

School continues to be a struggle for Amil, while his twin sister, Nisha, excels. Amil wishes for a friend, someone who isn't too competitive but who also has a sense of humour. He also wants a bicycle. Amil prays to his mother, asking her to make at least one of these wishes come true. Then at school, Amil encounters a boy during lunch break, as he's taking out his tiffin. Kazi has prepared Amil's lunch of rajma masala, roti, raita, and mango pickle. At first the boy refuses Amil's offer of food. He shows Amil a flip book he's made and this so intrigues Amil that he wants the boy to teach him how to make one. They strike a bargain where the boy will take half of Amil's lunch as payment for teaching him how to make a flip book. Eventually the boy reveals himself to be called Vishal and tells Amil he is from a royal family.

Amil and Nisha struggle to settle back into life, amidst continuing fallout from the Partition. Violence, an assassination and uncertainty seem to be everywhere. But when Amil and Nisha discover Vishal sleeping on the street, Amil is determined to help his new friend.

Discussion

Amil And The After is the story of one family's struggle to rebuild their lives after the Partition in 1947 India. Their traumatic and life-changing experiences leave them uncertain about the future and wondering why they survived when so many others did not. In this novel, set in 1948, their story is told from the perspective of twelve-year-old Amil. He almost died from dehydration as they crossed the desert in their journey from Mirpur Khas, Pakistan to Jodhpur, India.

The story begins on January 1, 1948, four months after the Partition, but it is not in the past. People are still fleeing over the border between Pakistan and India and communal rioting continues with attacks in Karachi and Delhi.

The events around the Partition have left Amil with many questions including why Muslims and Hindus are fighting one another. In Mirpur Khas, Amil's family, who are Sindh Hindus, went to the Sikh temple while some Hindus went to Sufi (Muslim) shrines. His papa tells him, "Our community had Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Jains all going about their business."  People were able to live peacefully, despite their differences. The Partition changes all of that.

Amil realizes that his experiences have changed him. Instead of focusing on how to have fun or get a treat, he has many complicated questions. He wonders why they survived, why they have a home and food and others do not. When he sees a young boy playing in the dirt in the refugee camp in Bombay, Amil recognizes that he could be that boy "If a few things had gone another way..." Was it luck that he hadn't died in the desert, that they have a safe place to live and food?

Eventually Amil discovers that his new friend, Vishal is living on the street. In Vishal, Amil sees "...a boy exactly like he was, just unlucky instead of lucky." When Amil offers to help him, Vishal seems indifferent because he believes he is worthless and that no one cares. While Amil believes the difference between him and Vishal is simply a matter of luck, Nisha believes they shouldn't waste that "luck" and should act to help Vishal. As a result they end up taking Vishal home, feeding him and helping him to clean up and get into clean clothes. This restores Vishal's belief in his own dignity. 

When Vishal doesn't return to school, Amil is not content to simply let things go. He and Kazi discover he is seriously ill in the refugee camp and learn that his real name is Vasim Qureshi, meaning he is likely a Muslim boy. Amil is now determined to help his friend, eventually getting him treated at the hospital where his father works. He doesn't care that Vasim is Muslim, only that he is his friend. But Amil also wants to ensure that Vasim remains safe and that he doesn't end up back in the refugee camp. His determination pushes his father to find a safe place for Vasim and ultimately leads to his family helping him. The message is that we don't have to do big things, sometimes it is just helping one person that makes a big difference.

Amil And The After encourages young readers to look beyond differences and see the humanity in those who are different. Sometimes all that separates us from being homeless or a refugee is luck and circumstances. This message is an important one for people in all countries. As the Partition continues to have repercussions in India even today, this message is needed more than ever. 

As mentioned in Hranandani's first book, The Night Diaries, the experiences of the characters in this novel are based on her own family's experiences. She reiterates this in The Author's Note at the back. Also included is a Glossary of terms used in the novel. 

Book Details

Amil And The After by Veera Hiranandani
New York: Kokila       2024
342 pp.

Amal Unbound: A Novel by Aisha Saeed

Twelve-year-old Amal lives with her parents and three younger sisters, Seema, Rabia and Safa.  Her mother is expecting a baby any day and Amal and her sisters are excited. Everyone hopes this baby will be a boy. They live in a small Punjabi village in Pakistan which is controlled by Khan Sahib, a powerful landlord who lives in a large compound some distance away.

Amal loves school and is the favourite of her teacher, Miss Sadia. She usually helps Miss Sadia after school but with her mother's baby due any day, her father wants her to come home and help. Amal's dream is to someday be a teacher and to attend college with her best friend Hasfa.

Amal frequently meets Omar, who is the son of their servant Parvin, after school by the stream near her father's sugarcane fields. Omar and Parvin live in the shed behind their house. Omar attends the boys school which  has a much larger library than Amal's girls school. Their secret meetings offer Amal a way of gaining access to those books which Omar brings for her.

This time their meeting is interrupted by Seema who tells Amal that she must come home as the baby is coming. Her mother gives birth to a healthy baby girl, a fifth girl and not the boy her parents were hoping for.  This sends Amal's mother into a serious depression. She spends all day in her bed sleeping and can barely care for the new baby. Amal realizes that she needs to stay home for a few days to help out. However after missing nine days, her father has other plans, insisting that Amal, as the eldest daughter, must now stay home to care for her younger sisters, Safa and Rabia.  Amal is devastated as this means she will fall further behind in school and likely miss exams.

Seema gives Amal hope as she brings home a folder with some of Amal's school work from Miss Sadia. Two of Amal's mother's friends, Fozia and Miriam Auntie arrive bringing laddus, one of her mother's favourite treats. During their visit, Amal overhears them talking about the Khan family and how Jawad Sahib who now controls the village, has a reputation for being cruel. Jawad destroyed the entire village of Hazarabad when the villagers banded together and refused to pay back their debts. He destroyed all of their orange groves and cotton fields. Amal's friend Hafsa stops by to talk and encourages Amal to continue to pressure her father to return to school so their dream of attending college together won't be lost.

However, Amal's life is ripped apart when she has a fateful encounter with Jawad Khan after shopping at the market. After purchasing a pomegranate as treat for herself, Amal steps out on the road to walk home and is struck by a black car driven by Jawad Khan. He offers to drive her home but wants to take her pomegranate for his mother. Jawad offers Amal a fistful of money for the fruit but Amal stubbornly refuses, tired of always having to give up things dear to her for someone else. Her refusal results in terrible consequences for her, but in the end offers Amal the chance to bring the Khan family to justice and free her village from their tyranny.

Discussion

Amal Unbound is a well-written novel for younger readers that tackles some of the issues girls in many developing countries face. These issues include the inability to make their own decisions about their lives, the lack of schooling for girls, the preference of boys over girls, and the lack of freedom to do things girls in the West take for granted, like riding a bike or driving a car. These inequities are very much a part of Amal's life in Amal Unbound.

When Amal's friend Hasfa shows up at her house riding a bike, Amal questions her as to whether her parents know she's riding a bicycle. "Most people around here frowned upon girls riding bicycles, and Hasfa's parents had let her know they were one of them." But Hasfa insists that if her brothers are able to ride a bicycle, she should be able to as well.

With the birth of her sister Lubna, Amal is shocked to learn just how disappointed her parents are. "Of course I had known they wanted a son. I heard the conversations of our neighbors and the whispers in our own house. but staring at my parents' expressions right now, I saw they didn't look disappointed; they looked crushed." Because of the cultural belief that a boy is preferred over  a girl, Amal's mother becomes severely depressed and unable to care for her family.  Amal cannot understand why everyone is so disappointed and questions this belief when Miriam Auntie shows her dismay. "I knew everyone wanted  to have a son, but I was getting tired of hearing this. Wasn't she once a little girl, too?"  Amal doesn't understand why the women in her village have this view of girls as they were once girls themselves.

As a result of her mother's serious post-partum depression, Amal, as the eldest daughter is forced to stay home from school and care for the family. Her dream of going to college and becoming a teacher appears to be slipping away. And when she pushes back against her father's decision for her to remain home, her father questions her need for extensive education.

Amal confronts her father about returning to school after the birth of her sister, but he is noncommittal. His attitude is that she has had enough schooling for a girl. Her dreams are never broached nor considered. " 'In a week or so, we can see how things are going,' my father continued. 'But in any case, remember, you have already learned a lot. More than many of the neighborhood girls. You can read and write. What more do you need to know?' " 

The attitudes towards girls lead to Amal standing her ground when confronted by Jawad Shaib. Instead of backing down as a girl would be expected to, she refuses to give her pomegranate to Jawad and snatches it back from him. "I thought of my father, who had no time for my dreams. My little sisters and their endless demands. Suddenly I felt tired. Tired of feeling powerless. Tired of denying my own needs because someone else needed something more. Including this man. This stranger. Buying me off. Denying me this smallest of pleasures." 

When the crisis with the Khan family develops, Amal's mother seems to recover. It is at this point that Amal questions her mother about the preference for a boy over a girl." ' Why is having a boy all anyone can talk about?'" Her mother's response references cultural practices in Pakistan,
'Who else will care for us in our old age? Who will run the farm and keep your grandfather's dream alive?' " When Amal states that she or Seema can do this her mother responds that when she marries she will belong to her husband's family, that this is how the world works. It is a phrase that Amal will hear repeatedly but one which she eventually decides to tackle head on.

Aisha Saeed tackles all of these issues with sensitivity and in a way that is not judgmental but which encourages young readers to critically consider them. Through the character of Amal, she expresses how girls might feel about being denied school or the choice to ride a bike. The author portrays girls in countries like Pakistan as having the same dreams as girls everywhere, only to see them frustrated by restrictive cultural views. When Amal confronts her mother about the preference for boys, her mother's reply resonates with resignation and acceptance. She tells Amal, "I wish it wasn't this way, but this is how the world works."

Saeed has crafted a determined, courageous heroine in Amal, who grasps the opportunity to bring down the family in control of her village. Forced into indentured servitude to the Khan family, Amal sees her entire life upended. Although she it treated well by Jawad's mother, Nasreen Baji, she is unable to continue her education and is separated from her family. She discovers what her father and mother have always told her, that "life isn't fair".  Despite being well treated, Amal never gives up on her own dream but she is motivated to try to bring down the Khan family when she sees how much harm they are doing and how families she knows are suffering. She has no idea if her efforts will be successful, but seeing how many people the Khan family have hurt, she decides to act. "If everyone decided nothing could change, nothing ever would."

This is the important message Saeed has for young girls today; you can make changes that will make life better for girls in countries like Pakistan or anywhere. In contrast to her mother who has accepted things they way they are, Amal takes the risk to change something. She is inspired by a teacher at the literacy center who tells her about how he comes from a family of lawyers and the expectation was that he too would be one. But he found a way to achieve his dream. Asif tells her, "I'm the first one to be a teacher in my family. No one supported me, but I did it because this is what I always wanted to do. If I thought nothing would change, nothing ever would."  

When Amal, Nabila and Bilal find the evidence they need against Jawad, Bilal admonishes Nabila telling her knowing will not change anything. But Amal thinks differently. "There is was again. Nothing would change. This family was so powerful, there was no use in trying to fight them. But..."Just because something seems impossible, does that mean we don't try?" I asked."  Amal's big risk plays out into a big change for her village. 

Amal Unbound with its beautiful cover is a must read for young and older readers alike. The cover's artwork features a thorny vine wrapped around a girl's wrists that are decorated with mehndi. The beautiful mehndi designs, signify the beauty of South Asian culture, while the vines show that this beauty is often covered by the thorny, binding restrictions of that same culture towards young women.

Book Details:

Amal Unbound: A Novel by Aisha Saeed
New York: Nancy Paulsen Books 2018
226 pp.

Daughter of Nomads by Rosanne Hawke

Daughter of Nomads is the first of two novels set in the Mughal Empire in 1662 about a young girl struggling to find her destiny. The novel opens in Sherwan, a village in the Kingdom of Hazara. Jahani lives with her mother, Hafeezah in a mud home in the village. Hafeezah is different from the other women in their village. She wears an embroidered cap with a white dupatta and her mother tongue is Burushaski, the language spoken in Hahayul, the most northern kingdom of the Qurragoram Mountains on the Silk Route. However, Hafeezah has insisted that they only speak Burushaski at home and Hindustani in public. Hafeeza is always concerned for Jahani's safety, often whispering blessings over her and even making Jahani wear a silver taveez, a sort of good luck token.

 Jahani awakens after a recurring nightmare, excited because this day, she and her best friend Sameela will be travelling to the bazaar to buy henna for Sameela's mehendi party. Sameela will be married next week after seven days of festivities. Jahani is taken to the bazaar with Sameela in a horse-drawn carriage, a tonga. When their tonga gets caught in a throng of donkey wagons and people, Jahani and Sameela jump out. As they leave a shop after Sameela buys henna and bangles, the two girls are pushed and fall to the ground. Jahani is unhurt, but Sameela has been knifed.  A stranger takes them back to Jahani's house where Sameela's father comes to claim his dead daughter. Jahani is devastated by the death of her best friend.

That night after Sameela's funeral and wake, Hafeezah reveals that she is not Jahani's birth mother and that her real parents are Aunty Zarah and Uncle Baqir who live in the Kingdom of Kaghan near the Kingdom of Hahayul in the Qurraqoram Mountains. When Jahani was four years old, someone tried to harm her but she was saved by the young son of Baqir's master of horse and by a snow leopard. The next day Zarah arranged for Hafeezah to take Jahani away to Sherwan. Now Hafeezah believes Jahani that she was the real target of the attack and is once again in danger.

The next morning Jahani tells Hafeezah she intends to journey north to find Zarah and Baqir despite Hafeezah forbidding it. Hafeezah arranges for Jahani to have an armed escort - the young man who brought Jahani and Sameela home from the bazaar. The young man, Azhar Sekandar has been guarding Jahani for some time. He advises they leave immediately to avoid the rainy season, bringing war horses for them to ride. 

That night Azhar flies southwest to to Persia on his Persian carpet. Azhar first learned that Jahani was alive when he was seventeen years old. His foster father, Kifayat Ullah indicated Jahani was alive but hidden in a village she had been taken to nine years earlier. Kifayat had made Azhar wait a year before searching for her, until he mastered flying the Persian carpet. This would allow him to return to Kifayat in Jask regularly. Azhar became Jahani's protector with the knowledge of Hafeezah.

Azhar wants to take Jahani to north to the mountains, but Kifayat advises Azhar to make the journey in stages so that Jahani can learn about her identity gradually. He returns to Sherwan, and early the next morning, with Jahani on a white horse named Chandi and Hafeezah riding Sitarah, they quietly leave. From the beginning, their journey north is fraught with difficulties. Two days in, they discover a Hindu village that has been completely wiped out with the exception of a little girl named Anjuli.

The following day they take Anjuli to her mother's family in a nearby village but they refuse to take her. So Anjuli stays with Jahani's party. That night after making camp, Azhar kills a scout tracking them. They leave immediately and spend the next weeks riding at night and resting during the day. Just inside the Kingdom of Kaghan, Azhar fights off another attack, this time with the help of Jahani. Eventually they arrive at Lake Saiful Maluk where Azhar is greeted reverently by his friend,Rasheed. In the safety of the hut, Azhar reveals that they are being followed by "the men of Dagar Khan from the northern Kingdom of Hahayul". He tells Jahani that he is a new King Zahhak - a new "Demon King" like that in the legends.

Meanwhile at Baltit Fort in the Kingdom of Hahayul, Dagar Khan, the self-appointed tham receives a report from a commander who insists that despite burning villages, they can find no evidence of the girl he seeks. However, Dagar Khan is insistent because his seer, Pir Zal continues to claim she is alive. His vision warns Dagar Khan that she will come to claim his throne and that she must be killed if he is to rule over all the northern kingdoms. He orders the commander to continue looking and also to take a message to the warlord Mazahid Baig.

Azhar flies to Jask to consult with his father. When he explains how Jahani helped him during a fight, Kifayat gives him a special scimitar called Shamsher, the Lion's Tail. This fabled curved sword has a hilt made of jade and embedded garnets. He orders Azhar to teach Jahani "all you know as if she were a boy."  When Azhar returns, he is almost seen by Jahani on his flying carpet. She notices his beautiful Persian carpet which she believes is his prayer carpet. Azhar gives her the scimitar, telling her to "keep it hidden until the time comes to wear it openly."

They leave the lake for Naran where Jahani will finally meet her parents. Jahani dresses as a boy to avoid recognition by those hunting for a girl with red hair. Although it will be only a five mile journey, Rasheed's son, Mikal has gone ahead to warn Baqir and Zarah of Jahani's arrival. Their journey turns deadly when they are attacked by armed men wearing red turbans. In her head Jahani hears repeated warnings and advice during the attack. She is able to fight off an armed attacker using Shamsher although the circumstances of the fight are bizarre to Jahani. She is met by Saman Abdul, commander of Baqir's troops. While Jahani is escorted safely into Naran, Saman and his troops go to Azhar's aid.

In Naran, yet another revelation awaits Jahani. Jahani feels distressed that she has no feelings for Zarah, her mother. But in Naran, Jahani learns much more about her life before she came to Sherwan. When her father arranges for her marriage to Mazahid Baig, who protects Naran, Jahani begins to suspect all is not as it seems. An overheard conversation between Zarah and Baqir as well as more revelations from Azhar convince Jahani to flee Naran, determined to uncover her true identity and her real destiny.

Discussion

Daughter of Nomads is probably Hawke's best novel to date. The novel combines the elements of a historical novel with mystery, adventure and a dash of fantasy to create a wonderfully engaging story. Its setting within the Mughal Empire during the seventeenth century is unusual and offers young readers a chance to learn about a culture and era they likely would not study in school. To help readers understand the context of events in the novel, Hawke includes a large map showing Jahani's journey north through the Mughal Empire. A note about the Mughal Empire would also have been very useful.

The Mughal Empire was essentially a Muslim empire with strong Persian and Indian influences. It ruled most of the Indian subcontinent from the early sixteenth to the mid-eighteenth century. The Mughal dynasty was characterized by its successful integration of both Indian and Muslims into a coherent, functioning state and by its ability to govern over such a large area. The empire was founded by a descendant of Genghis Khan. The Chagatai Turkic Prince Babur was descended from Timur and Chagatai, the second son of Genghis Khan. Through a series of military conquest, Babur was able to conquer all of northern India. At the time of this novel, the Emperor  Aurangzeb ruled. This story is set is the most northern region of the empire.

The story is told in the third person narratives of Jahani, her protector, Azhar Sekandar and Dagar Khan, "the self-appointed tham of the Kingdom of Hahayul". who is determined to capture Jahani and kill her.  Jahani begins the story believing she is a simple girl with a limited future, living in an small village. She knows that without a father and a dowry, she will never marry. Jahani's real future is foreshadowed in her daydreams of being "a warrior girl wielding a scimitar like Gordafarid daughter of an old Persian hero..." She also hopes to be "loved passionately like the Emperor Shah Jahan loved his wife, Mumtaz." 

However, Jahani's life changes forever when her best friend is killed and Jahani learns that she was the intended target. From this point on, she discovers that there is more to her past than she knew. When she learns that Hafeezah is not her birth mother, Jahani embarks on a what becomes a journey or momentous self-discovery.  With each attempt on her life, Jahani grows more puzzled. She doesn't understand why Dagar Khan is pursuing her. Jahani also finds herself seemingly able to communicate with Chandi her horse and is able to save the nomad sheep by stopping the wolves from attacking. Her strange ability to use Shamsher, a fabled scimitar is also puzzling to her. Her recurring dreams of a boy, a peacock and a snow leopard are based in reality as Jahani becomes convinced the boy is Azhar and the snow leopard is Zadi. Jahani feels a strong attachment to the mountains of the north, although she doesn't know why this is so.

In Naran, Jahani meets Zarah and Baqir but learns they took her from the nomads. With the nomads she meets Yazmeen whom she is led to believe is her mother, and sister of Tafeeq Baseer who rules the nomads along with his son, Rahul. However Jahani has much more to learn about her past. By the end of the novel, readers will know more about Jahani's identity than the character does. This remains for Jahani to discover in the second novel.

Although the reader is given many hints as to Jahani's true identity, for example the verse quoted by the seer Pir Zal, it isn't until later in the novel, in Azhar's narrative that the full story comes out. Kifayat tells his friend Bilal about how Dagar Khan simultaneously attacked the Kingdoms of Hahayul and Nagir. Azhar was six years old and living with Kifayat when Nagir was attacked first. He and Kifayat set out to warn the Kingdom of Hahayul about the attack but were too late.It was believed that the two-year-old shehzadi (princess) had escaped and Dagar Khan's men began kidnapping young girls with red hair. Kifayat continued to look for the little shehzadi and eventually found such a girl with the nomads. She knew her name was Jahani , spoke Burushaski and wore a silver taveez. Jahani lived with the nomads for two summers until she was adopted by Zarah and Baqir, wealthy landowners in the Kingdom of Kaghan. During this time Kifayat and Azhar followed Jahani, offering his services as a master of horses. When another attempt was made on Jahani's life at age four, she was hidden in a village in the south.  Azhar also reveals to Bilal that he is Shehzada of Nagir, thought to have been killed in the attack. No one knows that he survived.

Hawke incorporates Persian fables and historical facts into Daughter of Nomads. The purpose of using the Persian stories is to foreshadow Jahani's destiny and true identity. For example, when Azhar is leading Jahani and Hafeezah northward, he tells them a story about the famous King Merdas and his evil son Zahhak who came to be known as the Demon King. This is a story from the famous Shahnameh, The Persian Book of Kings. When Hafeezah questions Azhar as to what happened to him he tells her about how the Demon King dreamed that he would be killed by a man named Feraydun. "The Demon King searched for him and killed his father, but Feraydun's mother saved the baby and secretly gave him to a cow herder to bring up safely. When he was in danger again, his mother took him to the mountains where he played in fields of wildflowers." In fact, Jahani has dreams in which she remembers playing with a boy and a snow leopard in a field filled with flowers. The story is a hint that Jahani will play a similar role in the demise of Dagar Khan who has been told that "the woman with the leopard's heat" will come to take his throne.


After Jahani tells Azhar about her strange experience with Chandi, he tells her a story about the northern kingdoms. "The first mir of the kingdoms of Hahayul and Nagir - for they were one kingdom at that time - was born of the union of the great Sekandar and a pari (fairy). It is said that the pari's powers appear sometimes in descendants - they are given gifts." When Jahani inquires as to what those gifts might be Azhar states, "They are able to understand certain animals, have unusual strength, or can wield weapons with minds of their own. Usually descendants have only one gift, but in rare instances more than one is inherited." This story of course is a hint of Jahani's true identity and the origin of her special abilities which are beginning to be manifest.

Hawke also infuses the story with some historical information as well. For example, when they are  entering the ancient village of Mansehra, Azhar tells Jahani how the large rocks at the entrance to the village were inscribed by Ashoka the Great, with the promise that he would only conquer by righteousness after conquering  by massacring the entire village. This is in fact a real historical event that happened. Ashoka assumed the throne after killing all of his brothers, except one, in 272 B.C. He was known as a cruel and ruthless leader. In 265 B.C., he conquered the Kingdom of Kalinga, destroying cities, burning villages and murdering thousands. When he surveyed the carnage, Ashoka was overwhelmed by what he'd done and had a complete conversion. The story serves to provide some cultural background for readers.

Hawke has crafted a wonderful historical fiction novel for young readers with a strong, capable heroine in Jahani. In the character of Azhar, readers have a young man who exhibits self-control, courage, and respect towards women. Daughter of Nomads is based on a story Hawke told her children, years ago, when they were on vacation in the Karakorum Mountains in Pakistan. It is, as she describes it, an "alternate history what could have happened if the little kingdoms of the area now called Pakistan banded together and fought for their freedom." The map and lovely pencil illustrations were done by D.M. Cornish.

Daughter of Nomads is well worth reading; Jahani's story concludes in the second book The Leopard Princess. Suitable for ages nine and up.

Book Details:

Daughter of Nomads by Rosanne Hawke
St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia: University of Queensland Press     2016
290 pp.

Liana's Dance by Rosanne Hawke

The novel opens with Liana and her best friend Evie shopping at the bazaar in the village of Murree in northern Pakistan. Because Pakistan is a Muslim country, the two girls must be accompanied by a male relative and for this trip it is a fellow classmate, Ash who is a British-born Pakistani. When Ash complains about wanting to go to the chai shop - women are not allowed in the men-only tea shops, Evie suggests he go, that they will be fine with the older shopkeeper. Liana has just purchased a burgundy shawl when Ash returns, telling them they must leave at once. It is at this time that Liana notices the growing crowd outside the shop and a lone teenage boy chanting, "Allahu Akbar, God is great!" The shopkeeper tells them the crowd are Shia Muslims as he slams the shop door and rolls down the window shutters. Just as Ash pushes Liana and Evie to the floor there is a tremendous explosion. Except for the loss of hearing in one ear, Liana is fine as are Evie and Ash. As they flee out the back door of the shop, Liana hears the cries of the wounded.

Liana experiences a nightmare from the trauma of the attack when she is back in her boarding school, The Pines International School. This causes Evie to worry about her. Liana and Evie have grown up together in boarding school and they are now inseparable. Evie tries to assuage Liana's fears about an attack but things have been changing in Pakistan. The attacks by the mujaheddin on various groups including the police and army are growing. 

Up until the previous holiday, Liana's parents had lived in a large village for all of her life, helping the people there. Gradually however, things began to change - people expressed anger and hatred of America. Soon the army appeared in the village and then guards were assigned to their home. They needed permission to travel. Almost all of the expats left the area and aid workers received threats. 

On Liana's last holiday home, the police in their village asked them to leave because her father, an Australian could not be distinguished from an American and they could no longer protect them. Even having a Pakistani wife might not prevent an attack, as Liana's parents are both Masihi - that is Christian. So they moved to a nearby town where they were well known. However, even there her father took precautions, locking their gate on Fridays when the men walked past to the mosque.

Liana returns from her holiday to boarding school in Murree with evacuations papers and her passport just in case. Unlike her parents whose faith is comforting, Liana feels overwhelming fear. In Mr. Jones's history class she finds herself unable to concentrate. Liana is even more distraught when, after class she learns that Evie's brother, Kris was almost hit by a rock thrown by a passing car. The rock contained the message, "Americans must die!" The next morning a new set of rules is posted by the school principal that directs students to be less noticeable and forbidding visiting the chai shop across from the school. The rules only serve to frighten Liana even more. "We can't go anywhere. We're just stuck here, waiting. And for what? For some terrorist to attack us?" She faints in Mr. Jones' class only to wake up in the sick bay with Evie watching over her.

Evie tells her about the new music teacher who is Australian and due in any day and that his name is Mikal Kimberley. Mikal flies into Islamabad, nervous about working at The Pines International School. On the flight Mikal stands out because of his shoulder-length blonde hair and tanned skin. The passenger sitting next to him, a Pakistani man advises Mikal to be careful in Pakistan as the "feeling against Western countries, and especially America, runs high at this time." He is warned that people will not know he is Australian. He urges Mikal to cover his head with a hat and gives him his rolled woollen cap.

The trip to Pakistan is Mikal's first abroad. His mother passed away during the past year from breast cancer. After the death of his adoptive father five years ago, his mother raised him and paid his studies at various conservatories. In her last letter to Mikal, she revealed that his biological father John did not know about his birth. After Mikal's mother married Rob Kimberley, she learned that John travelled to Pakistan as a volunteer and that he had married and had a daughter. When Mikal told his mother his intention to teach music in Pakistan, she saw this as a sign from God that he would not be left alone after her death.

Mikal's arrival at the school is welcomed by the students, especially the girls who are attracted by his good looks and blond hair. All except Liana who continues to struggle to cope with the terrorist threat and has completely withdrawn. When Mikal inadvertently sees her dancing in the woods he decides to incorporate dance into his classes in the hopes of drawing her out of her shell. His first lesson touches Liana who respects him for trying something no other teacher has. However, shortly after this the school is attacked by Islamic terrorists resulting in the deaths of several security guards, a groundskeeper, two office workers and a passerby. The school makes the decision to evacuate the students, sending them to their various embassies via unmarked vans. Liana is to travel with with Mr. Kimberley, Jeremy and his sister Carolyn. Their lives take a sudden desperate turn when two of the vans are attacked, the teachers killed and the students taken hostage. Liana's van careens over a cliff and she and Mikal are rescued by men from a nearby village. To get to safety Liana will have to draw deep within herself to discover an inner strength she never knew she had while using her talent for dance to save their lives and those of her fellow students.

Discussion

Liana's Dance is part of Rosanne Hawke's Beyond Borders series, following after Dear Pakistan and The War Within. In this story the reader follows Year 11 student Liana as she struggles to cope with the increasingly unstable situation in her home country of Pakistan.

Rosanne Hawke has many interesting stories to tell as evidenced by her previous novels. Unfortunately, in Liana's Dance the opening chapters of the story are difficult to follow. The novel opens with a great hook - the main character experiences a terrorist attack while shopping in a bazaar in Murree. This terrifying event serves to draw the reader into the novel. However, in the chapters that immediately follow, it is difficult to sort out the details of the characters backstory because the narrative is very fragmented. Perhaps this is because this was the third installment in the series and therefore could not be read as a standalone? Details that might matter, for example, the name of Liana's boarding school aren't learned until Chapter 6 when it is revealed through another character. Sometimes the story jumps - requiring the reader to fill in the missing details. This happens well into the novel, for example when Liana and Mikal, disguised as brothers are in Attock and have just been greeted by men outside the bazaar. One minute they are together and then next Mikal is just returning from having purchased roti and chicken tikka in the bazaar, despite being mute and having left Liana alone.

A subplot with a twist is introduced early on, with the appearance of Mikal Kimberley in Chapter 6, revealing that he has a half-sister possibly somewhere in Pakistan. Immediately readers will guess that this half sister is Liana, dispelling what could have been a significant source of tension in the novel. All that is left for readers is to wonder how and when they will discover their familial relationship. Mikal's first attempts to locate his half-sister at The Pines is unsuccessful, his methods somewhat questionable since they involve the misuse of school records. Ironically, Liana and Mikal must pretend to be brothers to hide their identities, while in fact they really are half-siblings but are unaware of this connection. Instead, the two feel something special; for Liana it is in the form of a budding crush on the man she believes to be just her school teacher, for Mikal is it a feeling he cannot define. Fortunately this crush is quickly ended by Mikal. Another subplot in the novel involves Liana's failing friendship with Ashkenaz Peter, a Year 12 student whom she rebuffs when he returns from England.

Liana's transformation from a young girl traumatized by the attack in the bazaar at the beginning of the novel to a courageous girl who saves Mikal's life is too quick to be believable. Liana was traumatized to the extent that she had withdrawn almost completely, suffered flashbacks, nightmares, fainting spells and a loss of appetite. Yet in the matter of a few days and after a traumatic accident also involving terrorists, after a tense experience in a rural village where her identity must be kept hidden, she is able to act quickly, heroically to save herself, her classmates and her teacher. Likewise, Mikal's change from an Australian unfamiliar with Pakistani customs and culture to an AK-47-toting teacher determined to free a bunch of students is also quite astounding. The climax of the novel - the freeing of the international students by a lone Pakistani-US operative, Mikal and Liana stretches readers' belief.

It's difficult to tell just how accurate the portrayal of life in northern Pakistan is in this novel. Hawke does seem to try to balance her portrayals of Muslim extremists with more balanced characters who are helpful and caring towards their Western visitors. The wedding of a young girl barely into her teens is well portrayed. The phrase "war on terror" is used repeatedly throughout the book and yet was not in common use after 2007. Although no date was mentioned in the novel, there is a reference to Osama bin Laden's death which occurred in 2011, by which time the phrase "war on terror" was mostly obsolete.

The beautiful cover and the opening chapter will certainly draw readers in but they will be disappointed that this short novel doesn't live up to expectations.

Book Details:

Liana's Dance by Rosanne Hawke
Capalaba QLD Australia:    Rihiza Press      2017
182 pp.

Shahana by Rosanne Hawke

Shahana is one of the books in the "Through My Eyes" series. It tells the story of a fourteen year old girl who has lost almost her entire family to the conflict between Pakistan and India over Kashmir. As she struggles to survive, she finds herself pressured to enter into a forced marriage to survive.

The conflict over the Kashmir region began in 1947 with the partition of India and the formation of Pakistan. Pakistan believed that the former states of Jammu and Kashmir belonged to the new nation of Pakistan but India also laid claim to them. The Kashmir people would prefer to have their own state. This has resulted in two wars between India and Pakistan, in 1947 and 1965. Militants soon became involved in the conflict; Kashmiri militants fighting India along with Pakistani trained militants as well as militants fighting for Kashmir independence. To stop the infiltration of militants into Kashmir, India has constructed a "Line of Control", a wire fence topped with concertina wire that is up to twelve feet in height and electrified.  The fencing in the Jammu and Kashmir area was completed in 2004 and has significantly reduced the infiltration of militants.

Fourteen-year-old Shahana lives in her grandfather's hut with her younger brother nine-year-old Tanveer, not far from the Line of Control, a border separating Pakistani and Indian controlled Kashmir. Shahana and Tanveer lost their brother Irfan and their mother in a gun battle. Their wooden house in the village was also destroyed in the attack. When their father found them he brought them to Nana-ji, her mother's father who lived in a hut in the forest. When Shahanna was eleven and her brother only seven, they found their father bleeding on the rocks by the Neelum river. He had tried to cross to the Kashmir side to sell his shawls and was shot by the soldiers. He died after giving them his blessing. Since that time they have struggled to survive living off the milk provided by their goat, Rani and the money Shahana earns from her embroidery.

One night they hear gunfire coming from near the Neelum River "where the Line of Control runs along the border between Azad Kashmir and Jammu and Kashmir." The next day Shahana takes her embroidery to Mr. Nadir who owns the cloth shop in the village.  At his shop, Mr. Nadir gives Shahana a grey woollen robe called a pheran to embroider. Mr. Nadir suggests that Shahana sell Tanveer to him to make rugs in his shop, but Shahana refuses as she knows she will never be able to buy him back.

After milking their goat, Rani, Shahana and Tanveer walk to the big river to fish and catch a large trout. On their way home, Tanveer spots a boy lying in the river surrounded by dogs. Tanveer insists that they help the boy and against her better judgement, Shahana relents. They drag the boy out of the river, fighting off dogs, one of which is shot by a soldier on the other side of the Line of Control.

In the morning the boy awakens and tells them he is from a village in the Kashmir Valley and that his name is Zahid Amir Kumar. Zahid is looking for his father who was taken from their home in Sringar three years ago by the Indian police. Zahid wants to learn what has happened to his father. Zahid tells Tanveer that he attempted to swim across the big river during the night but Shahana knows that the Indian and Pakistani soldiers are able to see anyone with their motion sensors and thermal imaging devices. Although she is frightened, to Shahana, Zahid looks like a simple teenage boy and not a jihadist.

Shahana is concerned about Zahid staying with her as it is haram for an unrelated male to stay in the same house. However, they decide he will stay but not who he will be - brother or cousin. Tanveer takes to Zahid immediately and the two spend time together hunting. Zahid seems very frightened of the militants and out of concern for Shahana, he decides to start sleeping under her house. For one thing it is haram for him to sleep in the same room with her and he can use the rifle to protect them.

When Shahana returns to Mr. Nadir with the completed pheran, he tells her she needs to be married so that she will be protected from the militants and that he has a man who is interested in marrying her. However Shahana refuses, insisting she is too young. He gives Shahana another pheran to embroider, this time with silver thread. On the way home, Shahana stops at the house of her friend Ayesha whose father disappeared almost two years ago. Her mother, Auntie Rabia is now called a half-widow which causes her shame. As a result she is withdrawn and has not opened the door to anyone. However this time, Ayesha comes to the door after Shahana leaves and the two girls look at each other. Shahana knows she needs her friend.

Things become more complicated when a militant, carrying an AK 47 Kalashnikov and wearing a turban shows up at Shahana's home while Zahid and Tanveer are out fishing. He asks for milk from the goat and asks her about her family. Shahana tells him she has two brothers. Scared of the militant who may learn of Zahid's true identity and realizing she is in danger because of Mr. Nadir's pressure to marry, Shahana decides to reach out again to her friend Ayesha.  As she reconnects with Ayesha, Shahana begins to feel as though she has someone she can turn to. However, Mr. Nadir is determined and when Tanveer goes missing and Shahana and Zahid are injured in an avalanche, Shahana must make a difficult choice. Fortunately, help comes from an unexpected place to save Shahana from a terrible fate.

Discussion

Rosanne Hawke has crafted an engaging novel for teens, about a little known conflict in a little known part of the world called Kashmir. The partition of India in 1947 had serious repercussions for both Muslims and Hindus. The partition itself was chaotic and violent, leaving many families separated and suffering the loss of loved ones. The Kashmir conflict was another situation that developed out of the partition and it has continued to divide this part of the world, affecting families and especially children.

In this novel, Hawke, who was an aid worker in the Middle East, attempts to portray the effect the long standing conflict over Kashmir has on the children of this region. This is done through the young characters, all of whom have suffered a loss in some way. Shahana has lost her brother, mother and father and almost loses her younger brother Tanveer. Ayesha has lost her father, who disappears and is believed to have become a militant. Zahid has lost his brother who was shot by the soldiers. To get the bounty for shooting a militant, the soldiers claimed his brother was one. His father marched in protest and he was taken away three years ago.  His beautiful sister Nissa was taken by the militants.

For Shahana, the loss of her parents places her in a vulnerable situation from both the villagers and the militants. Shahana worries about the militants who kidnap young boys and make them into soldiers. They might take Tanveer. Shahana worries about the coming winter and about the wild dogs. She must support herself and her brother who also needs medicine. She attempts to do this by doing embroidery for Mr. Nadir. However, Nadir recognizes Shahana's precarious situation and takes advantage of her by kidnapping her brother to work in his store making rugs and by blackmailing Shahana into being sold in marriage. In addition to these losses, Shahana is unable to attend school because her tent school was destroyed by the militants. She wants to continue school but there is no school and she cannot make money by going to school.

Hawke does an excellent job of portraying how stressful the conflict is for Shahana and how vulnerable she is. When Ayesha encourages her to tell the world via the internet about what is happening to her, Shahana feels overwhelmed and begins to cry. "She cries for Tanveer, for herself because of Mr. Nadir, and out of fear. What if the militant steals Tanveer, or if someone finds out about Zahid? She will be worse than a half-widow. She hiccups. At least no one will want to marry her then. But could something worse happen?"

Hawke uses her characters to explain how the young people of the Kashmir region feel about the conflict. When Zahid and Shahana first meet they share how the conflict has affect their families, Zahid states, "They should ask us what we think of war..."  Shahana thinks to herself that she would have much to say. Amaan Khan states to Shahana that despite being a militant, he no longer agrees with the jihad. Like other young people in the region he simply wants to live his life in peace.  Amaan tells her,  "Innocent children are caught in the crossfire. It is not why I joined. I came so Muslim brothers and sisters would have freedom, but we are killing them, destroying their culture, not freeing them." When pressured to respond, Shahana tells Amaan, "I think there should not be militants or the army here. That the governments should make peace, so children's lives aren't destroyed. There should be no fence dividing us." 

Map showing the disputed territory and the Line of Control

Zahid explains to Shahana that many peaceful groups simply want freedom from India but that the Pakistani militants are fierce and are attempting to change their ways. Shahana tells him that her village is Kashmir not Pakistani. However Zahid states that "We were a state with a maharajah, never part of India to be handed over to Pakistan at Partition or to China. When India and Kashmir were divided into Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan in 1947 the two states went to war to control Kashmir. Since then this conflict hasn't stopped."

Shahana's friend Ayesha explains to her how she can let the world know what she things and how the conflict is impacting her life. Ayesha tells her about a website "for children about peace." The site tells children what they can do to make a difference. "They are meeting with a minister from the government after the winter. He will come to the Neelum Valley and hear children's stories and see their artwork." Ayesha encourages Shahana to tell her story and to share it.

From all of these characters, readers get a real sense of how they are impacted by the war, the militants and those like Mr. Nadir who take advantage of children who are orphaned and living precariously. Readers understand just how vulnerable these children are, especially young girls.

To aid readers in further understanding the story, the author has included a map of the region showing Shahana's village and the village of Zahid in relation to the Line of Control. Included at the back of the novel is an Author's Note which provides some information about the Kashmir conflict, a timeline of events related to Kashmir, a glossary words used in the  novel and a limited reading list to learn more.

Shahana is a well-written and informative story that engages younger readers about an ongoing but little known conflict. This short novel is highly recommended to readers interested in other cultures and the lives of young people in areas of conflict and those who are interested in learning how The Partition has impacted this region of the world.

Book Details:

Shahana by Rosanne Hawke
Crows Nest, New South Wales, Australia    2013
206 pp.


Map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_of_Control#/media/File:Kashmir_map.jpg

The Truth About Peacock Blue by Rosanne Hawke

Aster Suleiman Masih is a Christian living in Pakistan with her father (Abba) who is a tailor and her mother (Ammi) who works in the house of Colonel Rafique and his wife (who are Muslims). She also had a brother Ijaz who suffered from asthma. They have family also living further south in Pakistan - her cousin Barakat and also in Australia; her Uncle Yusef, Aunty Noori and cousin Maryam live in Australia.  The novel opens with Ijaz's funeral. Aster's family from south Pakistan and Australia come to his funeral.

Aster realizes that her view of the world changed drastically when she was twelve years old. One morning, Aster goes out early to get water and encounters two boys attacking Hadassah in a wheat field. Her screams scare the boys off and she helps a bloodied Hadassah walk home to her mother Aunty Feebi. Hadassah was attacked by the landlord's sons. Her family keeps quiet about the attack because as Christians their village might be burned to the ground. Also the law in Pakistan will view Hadassah as the criminal, not the boys who attacked her. Three months later, Hadassah is sent to a village south of Lahore to study women's tailoring. Aster has no understanding at this point as to what has really happened to Hadassah.

The village teacher, Miss Saima, visits Aster's parents and encourages them to send her to high school in the Government Girls High School. Her father agrees and tells Aster that in April she will be sent to high school in place of Ijaz. Aster is welcomed at the school by the principal, Mrs Iqbal who tells her father that "she will be expected to take all the same subjects as the other girls, but she will be free to follow her Christian faith."  She is introduced to her class of Year Eights as Aster Suleiman Masih, which identifies her as a Christian and is seated by a girl named Rabia.

In school Aster is harassed and ridiculed by a Muslim girl named Sabeena. Mrs. Abdul who teaches Isamiyat and Arabic and who wears a burqa, takes an immediate dislike to Aster, slapping her and refusing to listen to her. Aster is afraid to return to school but her cousin Sammy, encourages her to reach out and make friends. 

At school her math teacher, Miss Rehmat and the English teacher Miss Saed-Ulla encourage Aster. Rabia advises Aster to say the Kalimah, "There is no god but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God." because this will make life easier for her. However, Aster refuses because she is a committed Christian.

On Sunday at church, Dr. Amal who was a friend of Izja, comes to visit and give a talk. Aster decides to take over Ijaz's facebook page, removing his picture and personal information and putting up a profile picture of a peacock. She renames the profile Peacock Blue after her favourite colour and bird. Facebook allows Aster to connect with her cousins, Sammy Ibrahim in Pakistan and Maryam Yousef in Australia.

One day after school Aster visits Mrs. Rafique's home with her mother who does their laundry and cooking. Although the Rafiques are Muslims, they have helped Aster's family, paying for Izja's medicine and giving Aster and Izja gifts for Christmas and Eid. Aster wants to tell Mr. Rafique, who was a Colonel in the army about Mrs. Abdul but she feels he won't understand.

At school Rabia confides to Aster that her father converted to Islam by saying the Kalimah. He was offered land and money to convert; now her father has an office job and her brother attends university and Rabia has good marriage prospects. Rabia suggests that Aster help her with math and English and she will tutor her in Arabic and Islamiyat. With Rabia's help, Aster begins to improve in Arabic. Eventually Colonel Rafique learns about Aster's situation and tells her she will now be tutored by him.

Aster along with her family and the entire village prepare for Hadassah's wedding. Hadassah reveals to Aster how much she misses her baby son whom she named Shahbaz after the minister of minorities who was assassinated. Hadassah is married and goes off to live with Danyal Peter in his village near Rawalpindi.

When Aster returns to school to write her exams, a terrible thing happens. Her first exam is Islamiyat. No sooner has Aster handed in her exam then she is arrested by the police and accused of blasphemy by Mrs. Abdul. Not really understanding what is happening to her, Aster is dragged out the gates of the school, which are quickly surrounded by a mob and a dozen police officers. Not knowing what she has done, unable to contact her parents, Aster is taken to the police station, her hands handcuffed behind her back and thrown into a cell. Surely she will be home quickly once this mistake is sorted out. But Aster will soon learn that in Pakistan, it doesn't matter if you are a child or you unintentionally blasphemed. Under Sharia law your life is forfeit if you blaspheme.

Discussion

The Truth About Peacock Blue is a story about the rigid enforcement of Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws. The story of (the fictional) Aster Suleiman parallels that of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five who has been on death row for blasphemy in Pakistan for the past seven years. Asia's only crime was drinking water from the same cup as her Muslim neighbours. Petitions calling for the release of Asia whose only crime is that of being a Christian have had little effect. Salman Taseer the governor of Punjab and Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti both supported freeing Asia, and both were assassinated. Asia currently lives in a squalid jail while she awaits a hearing before Pakistan's Supreme Court.

Similarly in The Truth About Peacock Blue, fourteen year old Aster is accused of blasphemy on an exam, jailed and ultimately sentenced to death. Her lawyer is subsequently assassinated. Aster's cousin Maryam begins a petition to free Peacock Blue, the name Aster uses on facebook. The novel ends with Aster, now sixteen years old,  in solitary confinement for her own protection awaiting an appeal. The story is told from Aster's point of view interspersed with posts by her cousin Maryam titled Free Peacock Blue.

Rosanne Hawke provides a balanced perspective of Pakistan's blasphemy law as she shows the persecution of Christians and Muslims alike. However, the novel's main theme is the brutal persecution of Christians in predominantly Muslim Pakistan, ironically a country formed out of the partition of India so Muslims could freely practice their own faith without persecution. Although their constitution allows for the freedom of religion, in reality, such freedom does not exist in many parts of Pakistan.

Under Pakistan's blasphemy law anyone who defiles the name of Mohammed either by the use of derogatory remarks, spoken or written, directly or indirectly is to be sentenced to death. There have been a marked increase in blasphemy charges since 1986 when the law was amended and as the country has become more radicalized. At least half of the charges have been against Christians who comprised less than three percent of the population. A charge of blasphemy in Pakistan often leads to death threats against the accused, their families, entire villages as well as lawyers and judges. The accused are often immediately jailed, sometimes placed in solitary confinement for their own safety. The blasphemy law in Pakistan is often used to persecute religious minorities or to settle personal disputes as in the case of Asia Bibi.

Hawke ably demonstrates the injustice of both Pakistan's blasphemy law as well as Sharia law through the experiences the female characters.  In jail Aster is never really safe, often beaten, sexually harassed and almost raped. She is thrown into a cell with older women all of whom are victims of Sharia Law.  Hawke uses these scenes to show how precarious life is for women under Sharia law. In cases of rape it is the victim who is punished and not the perpetrator.  Kamilah Muhammad was raped and became pregnant. When the baby began to show she was accused of zina, reported by her own father and thrown in jail. Narjis was married off to a cruel warlord to pay off a debt. Durrah killed her husband because he and his mother abused her. Hafsah, a Muslim woman was also accused of blasphemy when a quilt she was carrying knocked the Holy Qur'an off a shelf and into the fire, causing a corner of the sacred book to be burned. It was her mother-in-law's revenge for Hafsah giving birth to four girls, ignorant of the fact that  her son determines the sex of their babies. Her husband loved her and refused to marry another so her mother-in-law used the blasphemy law to remove her from the house. Muneerah, a Muslim, was secretly married to a boy she loved. When she became pregnant her father had her arrested for zina, her uncle killed her husband and when she gave birth to the baby in jail, he was taken away. Each woman has experienced the brutal effects of Sharia law.

Hawke provides a detailed account of how a blasphemy case works its way through Pakistan's corrupt justice system. Aster's trial takes place before a judge and a panel of "bearded clerics in dark shalwar qameezes" where Sharia Law rules. Therefore, many of the features of Western law which is based on Roman and Christian canon law do not apply. For example, no consideration is given to Aster's age nor the fact that she is a Christian girl who would likely know little about Islam and Muhammad. The Muslim witnesses who appear on Aster's behalf are badgered and discounted. Evidence crucial to the case is destroyed and there are no corroborating witnesses.

But The Truth About Peacock Blue is more than just a story about the evils of Sharia Law. It is a story of Christian persecution and the blossoming of a deeper faith that results. Hawke's portrayal of Aster's growing faith and trust in Khuda (God) during her imprisonment is moving. How many would keep the faith under such circumstances?  When Aster attends the government school she meets Rabia whose father converted to Islam so that his family would be better off. Rabia encourages Aster to say the Kalimah, telling her, "You should convert...It's a Muslim country, everything is easier if you're the same." but Aster refuses. When she questions Rabia about what she believes her friend is undecided but leans towards Islam. Aster states she cannot say the Kalimah just because it is expected. She must be true to what she believes and she realizes that for Rabia her faith is a cultural thing and doesn't mean much to her.

When Aster is first arrested  she struggles at first, "As I lay there thinking, I realized something horrifying: I couldn't feel God. Was my faith only something I believed in my happy life in the village? Then I heard Abba in my head: Khuda is always with us whether we feel He is or not, just believe." In the jail, Aster is told by Muneerah that her blasphemy is unforgivable and that she will never get to heaven. Aster wonders, "It astounded me how we could worship one god and have such a different understanding of him."

Instead of focusing on Mrs. Abdul, Aster chooses to focus on Yusef (Joseph) who was sold into slavery by his brothers. "He did his best to honour Khuda even under the threat of death and became respected by the prison guards...Yusef had a special talent for interpreting dreams."  Aster begins to have dreams while in prison, most of them are frightening to her. Such as dreaming about Yusef who does not hear her pleas for help. Gradually her dreams change. "I dreamed I was in a boat. At first the waves were gentle. Fish jumped over the waves...Then the waves rose higher until the boat was as high as a mountain and I knew it would crash. I screamed and suddenly someone appeared in the boat with me. He used a pole and the boat didn't capsize as we rode down the wave with white curling foam circling us. I saw his face before the next wave came. He was enjoying the exhilaration of the ride. It was Yesu Masih. I was not alone." Yesu Masih is the name for Jesus in the Quran.

After Aster is condemned as Yesu was, on the feast of little Eid or Easter she is comforted by a special dream. "That night I dreamed I was in a courtyard. A light shone and grew closer and there was Yesu Masih, holding out his hand. He wore a long cream robe and a shawl that was so bright it made the whole land  shine with colour. He looked as strong as if He could overthrow a court or a whole government if he wished it, but it was me He wanted. His dark eyes brimmed with compassion. 
'Beloved Aster.' His voice reverberated in the sky and His love settled around me like a blanket made of peacock feathers."

The use of dreams in this novel is especially interesting because many Christians in Muslim countries are comforted by dreams of Jesus, which are probably a spiritual gift. Living in strict Muslim countries leaves many Christians open to persecution. They often cannot practice their faith openly and find themselves persecuted on a daily basis, not only in personal interactions but in their ability to access education and employment. It is also interesting to note that many conversions of Muslims happen via intense spiritual dreams of Jesus. To convert to Christianity is to apostatize and is dealt with harshly. As a result, these conversions remain a secret but are widely reported anonymously on social media platforms.

Aster is supported by her Christian community who pray for her and exhort her to be strong. She is visited often by Dr. Amal who tells her, "There are many people praying for you, Aster, even outside of Pakistan." Aster "prays for strength like hers (Malala) to endure the waiting."  Her father when he finally is able to visit her, tells Aster, "What makes our life different wherever we are, even in a prison, is the presence of Khuda and his love. He is in control whether we feel it or not. Just trust him  and he will help you persevere. Then hope will come." But Aster wonders, "We all knew prayers weren't always answered the way we think they will be. What if Khuda allowed me to stay in here like Job, who had to go through his suffering?"

Hawke uses metaphors throughout her novel. One such is example involves mice. Early in the novel Aster remembers how she cooked rice without noticing that there were mice droppings (mice dirt) in the bag. The mice droppings ruined the rice. This led to her getting her eyes checked and getting glasses. When she meets Zaib, the journalist who wants her to write down her story, Zaib tells her that she is Muslim but that "We have mice in the cupboards. You know about that I suspect." Zaib is comparing extremist Muslims who ruin the beauty of the Muslim faith to the mice who get into the cupboard ruining the good rice. She asks Aster not to "tar every Muslim with this same brush."

My only criticism of this novel is the cover. Aster is supposed to be dark-skinned, yet the model on the front cover is decidedly white and doesn't represent the character in the story. But overall, The Truth About Peacock Blue is well crafted, searing novel about the reality of extremism that seems to overtaking the Muslim faith in many countries.

Book Details:

The Truth About Peacock Blue by Rosanne Hawke
Crows Nest, Australia:  Allen & Unwin                          2015
253 pp.

A Moment Comes by Jennifer Bradbury

A Moment Comes is set in Jalandhar, in the Punjab region of India, in 1947, when the country is afire with religious violence as it is undergoing the partitioning into two new countries. Britain is relinquishing control of India, the crown jewel of its vast empire. After over 200 years of British rule which had set Hindu and Muslim against one another so as to conquer this vast country, it has been decided India will become two countries, India and the newly formed Pakistan - the new Muslim homeland.

In 1947, British India is home to 255 million Hindus, 92 million Muslims who live in the northeast and northwest part of the country and 6 million Sikhs who live in the diverse Punjab region. Lord Mountbatten, Viceroy of India has been charged with overseeing the creation of the new country and the drawing up of the boundary between Pakistan and India.

The time of the partition is one filled with violence and confusion. Over 10 million people in India must relocate; Muslims in India must relocate to Pakistan, while Hindus/Sikhs from the area of India that will become Pakistan must migrate to India. The partitioning and the inevitable disputes over the boundary only serve to highlight the religious divide, resulting in murder, rape and kidnapping by both Muslims and Hindus and over one million people will die as a result.

Into this turmoil, the lives of three young people intersect. Seventeen year old Margaret Darnsley is the daughter of a British cartographer sent to India to help map the new boundary between India and Pakistan. Employed by the Darnsley family is Tariq an eighteen year old Muslim whose family will be leaving for Pakistan and seventeen year old Anupreet, a beautiful Sikh girl who has already experienced one violent attack resulting in the scarring of her face. 

Margaret is bored by her closeted existence within the family compound and her mother's all-consuming concern with improving the family's social status. Tariq desperately wants to study in England, so that he may return to Pakistan to lead his country. He sees his employment with the British cartographer as a step towards this goal. Meanwhile, Anupreet's family has managed to obtain employment for their daughter with the Darnsley's with whom they believe she will be safe from further attacks.

This sets up an unusual dynamic in the Darnsley household; Tariq is attracted to Anupreet but it is an attraction that can never be fulfilled because such a relationship is forbidden due to their different religions. Tariq is also attracted to Margaret who is so different from Anupreet - in fact exotic to him with her blonde hair and strange ways. But she is British and so their relationship too would be forbidden. Margaret is attracted to Tariq but keeps her attraction hidden from him and her parents. Instead she begins to form a friendship with Anupreet who likewise hopes to be friends with Margaret but realizes that true friendship involves the complete sharing of ideas and secrets - something both girls cannot do.

Underlying the story of Margaret, Tariq and Anupreet in the Darnsley household is the story of Tariq and his childhood friend, Sameer. Sameer, also a Muslim, has turned to a life of crime, participating in the riots against the Sikhs and Hindus, and also blackmailing them for protection money. He attempts to draw Tariq into this life on several occasions, challenging Tariq to be on the "right side" when the time comes. It is this relationship that ultimately will draw all three teens together, forcing Tariq to choose one of two paths.

Discussion

Many readers might find A Moment Comes somewhat slow paced, but Bradbury manages to hold her reader's interest with the interesting dynamics between the three main characters. This is the novel's strength; its exploration of the relationships between three young people and how they struggle to relate to one another within the conventions of Indian (and British) society during the time of Partition. The reader is eager to see how the relationship between Tariq and Margaret develops, and whether Anupreet and Margaret can forge a friendship given their cultural and class differences.

Each teen struggles to live with their families expectations for them. This is clearly shown by Tariq who wants to study in England and who hopes that Mr. Darnsley will help him achieve this dream. However, his family does not support him as they want him to travel with them to Pakistan where he can study at Lahore. For Tariq, the prestige of a British education is paramount since he believes this will make his countrymen listen to him.

Likewise, Margaret Darnsley, is also expected to behave according to British etiquette, although she already has an indiscretion to her credit back in England. Margaret loves the beautiful saris and the salwar kameez that Anupreet helps her purchase at the market across from their compound and she finds the traditional Indian clothing to be comfortable and practical in the hot, humid climate of Jalandhar. But her mother is horrified by her daughter's foray into Indian culture.

"Mrs. Darnsley turns away from the window, starts to answer her husband, but when she catches sight of Margaret, her face pales.

"What on earth are you wearing?" she asks he daughter. She doesn't sound pleased.
Margaret backs away from the window. "I picked it out from the market -- it just arrived, its so much cooler --"

"Go and change at once," her mother orders. "You look ridiculous. ..."

The last half of the novel picks up the pace as Tariq, Margaret and Anupreet's lives are thrown together by the violence in India. The twist in the plot sees the three teens come together to help one another as the day of Partition arrives.

Bradbury tells her story in the alternating narratives of Tariq, Margaret and Anupreet. Their voices are authentic and unique and capture the fears and uncertainty that would have been felt during this time. A Moment Comes is an interesting novel about a very fascinating historical event that many young people may not know much about, nor study in school but which still reverberates through the Indian subcontinent to this day.

Book Details:
A Moment Comes by Jennifer Bradbury
New York: Anetheum Books for Young Readers 2013
278 pp.

Under The Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fisher Staples

Under the Persimmon Tree tells the story of two families in war-torn Afghanistan beginning a month after the September 11th attack on the Twin Towers in New York. The story is narrated by two people; American born Elaine Perrin, now Nusrat Faiz, married to Dr. Faiz Ahmed Faiz and living in Peshwar, Pakistan, and Najmah a young girl fleeing her destroyed village in Northern Afghanistan.

The novel opens in Golestan Village, Northern Afghanistan, where Najmah lives with her mother who is expecting a baby very soon, her brother Nur, and her father, Baba-jan. The day begins like any other until a visit by the Taliban ends in catastrophe for Namjah's family. The Taliban take their food and kidnap her brother and her father to be soldiers. A few days later as Najmah and her mother struggle to survive, her baby brother, Habib, is born.

Namjah's Uncle Mohiuddin comes often to the family home, not to help, but to display his avarice openly for their father's land. Her uncle grows poppies for opium, a crop Najmah's father refuses to grow. He also supports the Taliban. Mohiuddin tells Najmah and her mother that they must leave the Kunduz Hills, as they will never be able to manage the farm, but they refuse. They know that Mohiuddin wants their land and it is their duty to protect it until the men return from fighting.

Najmah takes the goats to the mountains to graze and one night watches a wonderful meteor shower. She does not understand this celestial display and is terrified. When she decides to return to her home in the valley Najmah witnesses the destruction of her family. Her life is further shattered by this event. She is taken in by her neighbour's son, Akhtar, and his wife Khalida, who with their two sons plan to walk to the border town of Torkhum, to escape the Taliban and the coming war with America. When they arrive in Torkhum, Najmah decides she must travel on to Peshawar to see if she can locate her father and younger brother.

Meanwhile, in Peshawar, Nusrat visits her husband, Faiz's family. Nusrat met Faiz when she was attending Columbia University in New York. They both lived in the same old brownstone walk-up. Faiz was a physician working at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital. A year after they were married, Faiz confessed to Nusrat that he was concerned about the terrible situation developing in his homeland, Afghanistan. He felt he needed to return there, but with an American wife, Faiz felt this was not possible. However, Nusrat was willing to go with him, and in 2001 they traveled to Peshawar, where Faiz's father had moved the family. Shortly afterwards, Nusrat opened her garden with its huge persimmon tree to the poor refugee children while Faiz went to Mazar-i-Sharif to work in a medical camp.

Nusrat has not had word from Faiz for weeks. To take her mind off of her husband's situation, Nusrat decides to organize a dinner party and afterwards invite her husband's family to watch a meteor shower in the backyard. But Asma refuses saying such shooting stars are an omen.

The story of Nusrat and Namjah intersect when Namjah manages to travel alone to Peshawar and is eventually taken to Nusrat's home. Now they both wait as the American forces gradually liberate more and more of Afghanistan, to learn the fate of their loved ones. While they wait, Nusrat teaches Namjah English and helps her to heal from her terrible ordeal, all the while coming to the realization of what has happened to her beloved Faiz.

Discussion  

Under The Persimmon Tree is the heartrending love story of Nusrat and Faiz, and the loss and suffering of Namjah.  Nusrat (formerly Elaine) and Faiz's love story is beautifully described in flashbacks narrated by Nusrat. The gentle, caring Faiz is a most wonderful antidote to a heart broken by the loss of a beloved sister. And Namjah's family life, although difficult in the best of times, is tied to the land, where "the sky is so close you can reach up and touch it with your hands, and to the beautiful mountains."

The author very effectively paints a portrait of a society destroyed by Taliban rule, of a people terrorized by religious fanaticism and cruelty. We see how the poor farmers of Afghanistan were often powerless to protect themselves and to avoid becoming part of the Taliban insurgency.

An interesting aspect of this book was Elaine's struggle to find meaning in her life after the death of her sister, Margaret. Sadly Elaine's Christian faith did not continue to develop as she grew into adulthood and therefore could not help her to understand and come to terms with the loss of Margaret. The void she felt spiritually was reflected in the modern, plastic home with its purple Koolaid and packaged food as compared with the texturally rich and colourful apartment that Faiz lives in. Faiz's beliefs are woven into his daily living, something Elaine's modern American family seemed to lack.

Elaine's belief that her Christian faith was unable to provide answers to the questions of why, led her, after meeting Faiz, to look towards Islam and to eventually convert. When she goes to see the Imam Inayatollah of a mosque in Manhattan Elaine tells him, "I am a mathematician...I need a religion that's compatible with science and mathematics. In Islam, is there a belief in an order to the universe." She is directed to consider the work of Muslim astronomers and mathematicians. At this time in her life, Elaine seems to feel that Christianity has no concept of an ordered universe - that things just happen and that it cannot explain the reason behind her sister Margaret's death. Of course this is not true, as she comes to understand much later on. Christianity, although long maligned as incompatible with science, has a rich history of both the preservation of scientific knowledge and the discovery of the nature of the world. There are more than enough Christian scientists and mathematicians whose work has demonstrated that God has designed a universe governed by laws that can be known and understood. Eventually, Elaine, now Nusrat comes to understand that the answers she was looking for could have been found in her faith, had she chosen to see them. Nusrat also begins to realize that her rejection of her parents faith and her Judeo-Christian heritage have hurt her parents greatly and that this is something she must address.

Under The Persimmon Tree tackles themes of identity, loss, love, coming of age, and war. It is beautifully written and provides another window into a unique and beautiful culture, far different from Western culture. There is a helpful map of Afghanistan and a glossary of Dari terms in the back.

Book Details:
Under The Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fisher Staples
Farrar, Strauss and Giroux     2005
275 pp.