HarperCollins India presents Kashmir: Book 3 of the Partition Trilogy by Manreet Sodhi Someshwar

vandana.rathore@harpercollins.co.in | 14 November 2023

HarperCollins

presents

Kashmir

by Manreet Sodhi Someshwar  

Book III of The Partition Trilogy

Kashmir is the thrilling conclusion to The Partition Trilogy that began with Lahore and continued with Hyderabad. 

From a scaffolding of rigorous research, this ingenious literary thriller explores the events and exigencies that led to Kashmir becoming the battleground barely two months after India’s partition in 1947, its common people caught in the violent upheaval of the first Indo-Pak war.

Paperback | 328 pp | Rs 499 |Available wherever books are sold | Releasing 1^st Dec 2023

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‘In her last book of The Partition Trilogy, Manreet deftly dips in and out of decisions made in palaces, recording, with rich detail, their devastating repercussions on ordinary lives—giving us a gripping and panoramic view of one of the most important periods in the subcontinent’s history.’

– Farah Bashir, author of Rumours of Spring

‘Kashmir makes for a compelling read. The book examines the tumultuous occurrences during India’s partition in 1947, shedding light on the relatively lesser-explored consequences of this partition on the enchanting Kashmir valley. The book skillfully highlights the striking contrast between Kashmir’s renowned beauty and the harsh realities of war, violence and chaos that unfolded alongside the Partition.’

– Rana Safvi, author of The Delhi Trilogy

Author, Manreet Sodhi Someshwar, says, ‘I wrote The Partition Trilogy with two specific goals. One was to put faces on the ones who lived and loved and lost in that cataclysm, especially women who suffered the worst and were obscured in the interstices of history. Second was to render, with great historical accuracy, our leaders as flesh and blood characters. The aam admi and aurat share the same stage as Vallabhbhai, Jawaharlal, and Dickie (Mountbatten), my three political protagonists. This device allows me to show the life-altering impact in Lahore/Hyderabad/Kashmir of decisions being taken in Delhi. With Kashmir, the Partition trilogy comes to a close. I end this saga with the hope that the books will offer fresh stories about a time period that has deafening reverberations today. Stories to share, laugh and cry over with. Because a good story can save us. Scheherazade knew this, as did the forebears of my craft who started their trade around the first fire. The Partition Trilogy sure saved this writer. I now pass you the baton.’

Executive Publisher, Udayan Mitra, says, ‘Kashmir, the concluding novel in Manreet Sodhi Someshwar’s extraordinary Partition Trilogy, tells the thrilling story of the events surrounding Kashmir’s accession to India soon after Independence. This is historical fiction at its best – where historical fact and public personages appear alongside fictional individuals with engaging stories of their own, making for an unforgettable narrative. The events that took place around the time of Independence and Partition – which are sadly beginning to fade from public memory as the years go by – were full of drama and make for a very interesting retelling: which is what Manreet has done so fascinatingly, previously with Lahore and Hyderabad, the first two books in the Partition Trilogy, and now with Kashmir. We at HarperCollins are very excited to bring these books to readers, with we hope that they will provide many hours of pleasure to everyone who is interested in the remarkable stories from modern India’s history.’

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About the Book

Maharaja Hari Singh rules Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Princely State expected to accede to Pakistan during the partition in 1947. But Hari Singh dreams of a Switzerland-like status for his Himalayan kingdom. Meanwhile, popular leader Sheikh Abdullah rallies for freedom and the Poonchis in western Jammu revolt, telegramming Jinnah for help; soon, fearsome kabailis are carving a swath of savagery and destruction through the kingdom towards Srinagar.

In the Valley, tourists flee in the face of the tribal invasion. When Durga Mehra’s husband is murdered by the kabailis, she seeks refuge in a camp where another desperate inmate, Zooni, is also awaiting passage to Srinagar. As rations become scarce, newly widowed Kashmira worries how she’ll feed her children, but her houseboat guest, intrepid American journalist Margot Parr, is unfazed. She realizes she has the scoop of a lifetime on her hands …

The rattled Maharaja signs the accession to India, pleading for immediate help. Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel dispatch the Indian Army to defend the Valley, and Akbar Khan of the Pakistan Army races to aid the kabailis. Barely two months into independence, the two new nations are pitched into battle. The first Indo-Pak war begins, upending the subcontinent forever.

Kashmir is the thrilling conclusion to The Partition Trilogy that began with Lahore and continued with Hyderabad.

About the Author

Manreet Sodhi Someshwar is a bestselling author of nine books, including the award-winning The Radiance of a Thousand Suns and the critically acclaimed The Long Walk Home. Hailed as ‘a star on the literary horizon’ by Khushwant Singh and garnering endorsements from Gulzar for two of her books, Manreet and her work have featured at numerous literary festivals. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, the South China Morning Post, and several Indian publications. Manreet lives in New York City with her husband, daughter and cat.

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The Partition Trilogy

Backed by astute research, The Partition Trilogy captures the frenzy of Indian independence, the Partition and the accession of the states, and takes readers back to a time of great upheaval and churn.

Lahore (Book I)

In the months leading up to Independence, in Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel are engaged in deliberations with British Viceroy Dickie Mountbatten over the fate of the country. In Lahore, Sepoy Malik returns home from the Great War hoping to win his sweetheart Tara’s hand in marriage, only to find divide-and-rule holding sway, and love, friendships and familial bonds being tested.

Set in parallel threads across these two cities, Lahore is a behind-the-scenes look into the negotiations and the political skullduggery that gave India its freedom.

Hyderabad (Book II)

Mir Osman Ali Khan is the Nizam of Hyderabad, the largest Princely State of the Crown. It sits in the belly of newly independent India to which Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel want Hyderabad to accede. The Communists have concurrently mounted a state-wide rebellion.

Meanwhile, in the Nizam’s palace thick with intrigue, the maid Uzma must decide where her loyalties lie: with the peasantry or the Nizam. Among the Communist recruits, Jaabili finds love in unexpected quarters. Caught between a volatile Nizam and a resolute India, what price will Hyderabad pay?

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For reviews, excerpts, interviews, and more information, please contact Vandana Rathore at
vandana.rathore@harpercollins.co.in