From the Man Asian Literary Prize-longlisted author, the story of a
middle-aged man in contemporary India discovering that neither his life
nor his country are as stable as he thought.
Alif is a middle-aged, mild-mannered history teacher, living in
contemporary Delhi, at a time when Muslims in India are seen either as
hapless victims or live threats. Though his life's passion is the
history he teaches, it's the present that presses down on him: his wife
is set on a bigger house and a better car while trying to ace her MBA
exams; his teenage son wants to quit school to get rich; his
supercilious colleagues are suspicious of a Muslim teaching India's
history; and his old friend Ganesh has just reconnected with a childhood
sweetheart with whom Alif was always rather enamored himself.
And then the unthinkable happens. While Alif is leading a school field
trip, a Hindu student goads him about being Muslim, and in a fit of
anger, Alif twists his ear. Suddenly out of a job, Alif finds his life
rapidly descending into chaos as his home city, too, falls under the
shadow of violence.
In this darkly funny, sharply observed, and deeply moving novel, Anjum
Hasan deftly and delicately explores the life of Muslims in India and
the force and consequence of remembering your people's history under an
establishment that wants to forget.
