Sunlight on a Broken Column

In Sunlight on a Broken Column, Attia Hosain explores the lives of Laila, an orphaned daughter of a distinguished Muslim family, and her aunts, who raise her in their traditional household. The novel delves into the struggle for independence in India, and the complexities of female power and tradition. It is considered a classic of Muslim life and has had a lasting impact on Indian literature.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 19 August 2021
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

The deftness with which Attia Hosain handles the interplay of manners, class, culture, and various forms of female power is gorgeously done. This novel is an extraordinary work, with an extraordinary heroine. Monica Ali's A masterful examination of class, culture, family, and women's lives set against the backdrop of Partition. Kiran Millwood Hargrave's 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 traditional 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 tradition. With its stunning evocation of India, its political insight, and unsentimental understanding of the human heart, Sunlight on a Broken Column is a classic of Muslim life. Attia Hosain published only two books, but her writing has influenced generations of writers. Discover Phoenix Fled, Hosain's acclaimed short-story collection, also published in Virago Modern Classics.

Weight: 308g
Dimension: 128 x 197 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780349014470