A Selection of Midnight Hour Reads
The Independence of India and of Pakistan was perhaps the most defining time of the past century in south Asia, and so has spawned many books and works of literature over the years. From classics to modern takes to other perspectives, we decided to put together a list of ‘Midnight Hour Reads’ at a time when freedom often seems to be slipping away.
Selected Stories- Saadat Hassan Manto (1950)
Perhaps the name most fundamentally tied to so much writing about partition, Manto’s stories are not just poignant and human, but also simple and captivating. Manto was deeply opposed to the partition and severely affected by it. From the iconic Toba Tek Singh to various tales about marginalised people and families, his work has enduring relevance even several decades later.
Train to Pakistan- Khushwant Singh (1956)
One of the best known and most iconic partition novels, Khushwant Singh’s tale recounts the horrors of the partition through the lens of the fictional border village of Mano Majra, telling the story of various characters and the conflicts between Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus who had lived in peace until that point. It’s a stark and disturbing work grounded in the cultural realities of the partition.
This is Not that Dawn- Yashpal (1960 tr. 2010)
Translated from the original title, Jhootha Sach (False Truth), Yashpal’s work has been called the most important work in Hindi literature about the partition, reviving life in Lahore as it was before 1947 and then showcasing the aftermath of that traumatic time. It’s been called the War and Peace of Indian literature, taking over a thousand pages to convey the lived experiences of various characters in a magnum opus that was ahead of its time.
Clear Light of Day- Anita Desai (1980)
Also featuring on our Delhi list, Desai’s novel focuses on the tensions and complex relationships between family members residing in Old Delhi. The novel begins when the characters are adults and progresses backwards into their childhood, set against the tensions of Partition in 1947. Evoking the prose of Chekhov and Arthur Miller, the book embeds the story of the aftermath of partition within the characters’ psyches in a rapidly changing city.
Shame- Salman Rushdie (1983)
Although Midnight’s Children is an obvious pick for a list like this, Rushdie’s Shame is actually a deeper exploration of the division between lands and borders, and takes a different perspective with his magical realist style. Drawing upon a more Pakistani perspective, with the town of Q assumed to be shorthand for Quetta and parallels to many Pakistani leaders, it explores the theme of how shame begets violence.
Ice Candy Man (Cracking India)- Bapsi Sidhwa (1988)
The 1947 Partition of India is the backdrop for this powerful novel, narrated by a precocious child who describes the brutal transition with chilling veracity. Bapsi Sidhwa’s seminal work is one of the most affecting books about the partition, later adapted into the film ‘Earth’. A traumatic and harsh read, it remains an essential for anyone wishing to understand the most turbulent period of recent Indian history.
The Other Side of Silence- Urvashi Butalia (1998)
Urvashi Butalia’s book is unique in its mission of telling the tales of individuals and their oral histories rather than creating a fictional tale. Based on multiple interviews and family histories over the years, the book reflects on the experience and legacy of partition in a holistic way, recounting the trauma through stories of the most marginalised and providing a powerful historical perspective.
Remnants of A Separation- Aanchal Malhotra (2018)
Written as a crossover between history and anthropology, Remnants of a Separation is the product of years of research by author and historian Aanchal Malhotra. The book tells the story of partition through objects and the material memory of what survivors carried with them, while also using this perspective to reveal the horrors of the partition.