Partition Voices: Untold British Stories: Kavita Puri: Bloomsbury Publishing

Partition Voices

Untold British Stories

Partition Voices

Untold British Stories

Description

Dotted across homes in Britain are people who were witnesses to one of the most tumultuous events of the twentieth century. Yet their memory of India's partition has been shrouded in silence. Kavita Puri's father was twelve when he found himself one of the millions of Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims caught up in the devastating aftermath of a hastily drawn border. For seventy years he remained silent – like so many – about the horrors he had seen.

When her father finally spoke out, opening up a forgotten part of Puri's family history, she was compelled to seek out the stories of South Asians who were once subjects of the British Raj, and are now British citizens. Determined to preserve these accounts – of the end of Empire and the difficult birth of two nations – here Puri records a series of remarkable first-hand testimonies, as well as those of their children and grandchildren whose lives are shaped by partition's legacy. With empathy, nuance and humanity, Puri weaves a breathtaking tapestry of human experience over a period of seven decades that trembles with life; an epic of ruptured families and friendships, extraordinary journeys and daring rescue missions that reverberates with pain, loss and compassion.

The division of the Indian subcontinent happened far away, but it is also a very British story. Many of those affected by partition are now part of the fabric of British contemporary life, but their lives continue to be touched by this traumatic event. Partition Voices breaks the silence and confronts the difficult truths at the heart of Britain's shared history with South Asia.

Product details

Published	17 Sep 2019
Format	Paperback
Edition	1st
Extent	320
ISBN	9781408899083
Imprint	Bloomsbury Publishing
Dimensions	234 x 153 mm
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Author

Kavita Puri

Kavita Puri is an award-winning BBC journalist, ex…

Puri does profound and elegant work bringing forgotten narratives back to life. It's hard to convey just how important this book is

Sathnam Sanghera
Probably the closest thing to a partition memorial … Heartfelt and beautifully judged

John Keay, Literary Review
Kavita Puri's book is the most humane account of partition I've read … Partition Voices is important because Puri does not flinch as she dissects the tumultuous event, never shying away from the trauma … We need a candid conversation about our past and this is an essential starting point

Nikesh Shukla, Observer
Opens a fascinating and necessary conversation about contemporary Britain and its people – where they have come from, what they have done, and who they may now want to be

Anjali Joseph, Times Literary Supplement
An original and moving collection of testimonies from British Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus about the transformative era of India's partition

Guardian, 50 Best Books of the Summer
Thanks to Ms. Puri and others, [that] silence is giving way to inquisitive-and assertive-voices. In Britain, at least, the partitioned have learned to speak frankly of the past-and to search for ways to reckon with it - Wall Street Journal