A new novel
A new novel is taking shape.
The 1947 Partition of India and the border it drew, a novel about the lives it carried across, and the ones it left behind.
Columns of refugees from West Punjab, 1947. Photo Division, Government of India. Public domain.Where the story stands
On the desk, in fragments.
Working title:
to be revealed.
The new novel revolves around the Indo-Pak Partition of 1947 and the border it drew overnight, a line that split families, homes, and histories in two. The story follows the long-lasting impact of that division on lives on both sides of the border that got created: those who crossed, those who stayed, and the generations who inherited the crossing.
It is still early days. Scenes are being drafted, characters are being listened to, and the shape of the whole story is still finding itself. There is no cover yet, no publication date, and no title worth telling. What there is: a desk, a manuscript in progress, and a promise to share the work as it grows.
Fragments
Notes from the manuscript.
Small pieces may appear here as the story takes shape, a scene, a character sketch, a line that refuses to leave. Fragment ideas keeping the desk company for now:
- A train crossing into the new country, each carriage a life uprooted.
- A letter that travels across the border forty years too late.
- A house with two doorways, one to India, one to Pakistan.
Follow along
Read the work in progress.
The best way to follow the new novel is by subscribing to Mehreen’s newsletter on Substack, where drafts, fragments, and notes on the writing appear as they happen.
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