History's Angel

A darkly funny, sharply observed, and deeply moving novel about the surprises and struggles of life in contemporary Delhi by_____________________'Confirms Anjum Hasan as one of the most important writers of our time' WILLIAM DALRYMPLE'Our historical pasts and futures are conjoined here tantalisingly, with impressive skill, and with real tenderness' AMIT CHAUDHURIAlif is a middle-aged, mild-mannered history teacher, living in contemporary Delhi, at a time in India's history when Muslims are seen either as hapless victims or live threats. Though his life's passion is the history he teaches, it's the present that presses down on him: his wife is set on a bigger house and a better car while trying to ace her MBA exams; his teenage son wants to quit school to get rich; his supercilious colleagues are suspicious of a Muslim teaching India's history; and his old friend Ganesh has just reconnected with a childhood sweetheart with whom Alif was always rather enamored himself. And then the unthinkable happens. While Alif is leading a school field trip, a Hindu student goads him about being Muslim, and in a fit of anger, Alif twists his ear. Suddenly out of a job, Alif finds his life rapidly descending into chaos. Meanwhile, his home city, too, darkens under the spreading shadow of violence.In this darkly funny, sharply observed, and shockingly moving novel, Anjum Hasan deftly and delicately explores the life of Muslims in India and the force and consequence of remembering your people's history under an establishment that wants to forget.'Told in a subdued, sad, ironical tenor, it is compassionate without being sentimental' GEETANJALI SHREE, author of the International Booker Prize-winning Tomb of Sand'Extremely timely ... History's Angel helps us view the erasures of the past through a living lens with sensitivity and nuance' DAISY ROCKWELL