Broken Verses
Published Jan 2005
Fourteen years ago, Aasmaani’s mother Samina walked out of their house towards the beach. Samina, of the grey-green eyes and blazing, furious beauty; Samina the radical thinker and fearless activist; Samina full of divine grace, was never seen again. Aasmaani, frequently abandoned by her mother throughout her childhood, refuses to believe she is dead, and dreams of her glorious return. Fifteen years ago, Shehnaz Saeed, darling of the theatre and the small screen, whose performance as Lady Macbeth had convinced her mesmerised audiences that they would gladly plunge a dagger into the heart of a king for her sake, relinquished her career at its height to devote herself to her young son Ed. Now he is trying to persuade her that it is time for a triumphant comeback. Sixteen years ago, The Poet, subversive and brilliant, love of Samina’s life, was found murdered on a patch of waste ground, his body smashed beyond recognition, his face an angry purple bruise. One day Aasmaani receives what could be the longed-for proof that her mother is still alive. As she draws closer to the truth she is irresistibly drawn too to Ed, her ally and sparring partner. Broken Verses is a spellbinding book about grief and loss, about heroism and quiet endurance, about political and personal histories and about the heartbreaking choice to be made between motherhood and romantic love.
