Author: Kamila Shamsie
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Year: 2000
Language: English
Pages: 244
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0747553823
Description
Spanning the subcontinent from the Muslim invasions to the Partition, this is a magical novel about the shapes stories can take - turning into myths, appearing in history books and entering into our lives.
The Dard-e-Dils are characterized by their clavicles and love of stories. Aliya may not have inherited her family's patrician looks, she is much a prey to the legends of her family that stretch back of the days of Timur Lang. Aristocratic and eccentric - the can has plenty of stories to tell, and secrets to hide.
But there is a sting to most tales, for the Dard-e-Dils are cursed by their 'not-quite' twins. Aliya begins to believe that she is another 'not-quite twin' cosmically connected with her aunt Mariam and in a way that hardly bodes well.
Kamila Shamsie is a superb storyteller and rites with warmth and gusto Through the many anecdotes about the Dard-e-Dils, she hints at the larger tale of a divided nation.