‘I witnessed the dwindling glow of the British Empire. I saw small men entrusted with great jobs, playing with the destiny of millions’

Mishal Husain always knew that the lives of her four grandparents changed forever in 1947, as the new nation states of India and Pakistan were born. But what she had was a partial story, a patchwork of memories and anecdotes: hurried departures, lucky escapes from violence and homes never seen again.

Decades later, the fragment of an old sari sent her on a journey through time using letters, diaries, memoirs and audio tapes to trace four lives shaped by the Raj, a world war, independence and partition.

Mumtaz rejects the marriage arranged for him as he forges a life with Mary, a devout Catholic from a struggling Anglo-Indian family, while Tahirah and Shahid watch the politics of pre-partition Delhi unfold at close quarters. As freedom comes, bonds fray and communities are divided, leaving two couples to forge new identities, while never forgetting the shared heritage of the past.

'This book feels like vital history ... One of the best memoirs I've read in years' SATHNAM SANGHERA

‘Spellbinding ... A love story and an extraordinary personal journey set against some of the greatest upheavals of the 21st century. A book that is as moving as it is important’ PETER FRANKOPAN

‘This is the most important and accessible book I have ever read about the days leading up to and surrounding the partition of India' JOANNA LUMLEY

'You’re going to be utterly enchanted by this meticulously researched story of [Mishal's] family set against the backdrop of partition, end of empire and the trauma of upheaval' JON SOPEL

‘With clarity, warmth and profound sympathy, as well as some brilliant archival detective work, Mishal Husain performs a fascinating act of reconstruction of the world that disappeared in the mutual genocide of Partition. She also helps us to understand the shadows it has cast on the present’ WILLIAM DALRYMPLE