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INTRODUCED BY KAMILA SHAMSIE
'My life changed. It had been restricted by invisible barriers almost as effectively as the physically restricted lives of my aunts in the zenana. A window had opened here, a door there, a curtain had been drawn aside; but outside lay a world narrowed by one's field of vision'
Laila, orphaned daughter of a distinguished Muslim family, is brought up in her grandfather's household by her aunts, who keep purdah. At fifteen she moves to the home of her 'liberal' but autocratic uncle in Lucknow. As the struggle for Independence sharpens, Laila is surrounded by relatives and university friends caught up in politics, but she is unable to commit herself to any cause: her own fight for independence is a struggle against the confines of tradition.
With its stunning evocation of India, its political insight and unsentimental understanding of the human heart,
Sunlight on a Broken Column first published in 1961, is a classic of Muslim life.
'Laila is such a remarkable heroine - sharp, spirited and passionate . . . The deftness with which Attia Hosain handles the interplay of manners, class, culture and different forms of female power is gorgeously done' Kamila Shamsie
About the author
Attia Hosain (1913-1998) was born in Lucknow and educated at La Martiniere and Isabella Thoburn College. She blended an English liberal education with that of a traditional Muslim household where she was taught Persian, Urdu and Arabic. She was the first woman to graduate from among the feudal 'Taluqdari' families into which she was born.
Influenced in the 1930s by the nationalist movement and the Progressive Writers' Group in India, she became a journalist, broadcaster and writer. In 1947, she moved to England and presented her own women's programme on the BBC Eastern Service for many years, and appeared on television and the West End stage. She is the author of Phoenix Fled (1953) and Sunlight on a Broken Column (1961).
Summary
Sunlight on a Broken Column is an unforgettable coming-of-age story set against the turbulent background of Partition.
Foreword
Sunlight on a Broken Column is an unforgettable coming-of-age story set against the turbulent background of Partition.
Additional text
Despite Sunlight on a Broken Column being 60 years old, this book is still so relevant, for its themes of privilege, patriarchy, and the effects of Empire. It deftly handles themes that in lesser hands could feel heavy, and delivers a beautiful story that leaves a lasting impression.
