Between Clay And Dust

Description:

A Finalist for the Man Asian Literary Prize, a moving and beautifully told story set in the tumultuous days after the Partition of India and Pakistan, about a wrestling champion and a courtesan struggling to hold onto the world they knew amidst the eruptions of history.In a ruined city after the Partition, Ustad Ramzi is still famed as a wrestler of unparalleled strength and technique. But now Ramzi's power-if not his indomitable will-is on the wane, while his younger brother Tamami, unconcerned with traditions and hierarchy, hungers for immediate fame and glory.The courtesan Gohar Jan was once celebrated throughout the country for her beauty and the seductive power of her singing, her salon thronged by nobles, rich men, and infatuated admirers. But the aging Gohar Jan's world is changing, too. Ustad Ramzi and Gohar Jan are both beloved paragons of a world that no longer exists, in a bewildering new reality indifferent to their art.Musharraf Ali Farooqi's novel is a bracing and elegant story of two extraordinary characters in the twilight of their lives who stand resolute as the society they've known crumbles around them. Between Clay and Dust is an arresting account of love, honor, betrayal, and the ways in which we contend with history.

About Musharraf Ali Farooqi:

MUSHARRAF ALI FAROOQI is a world-renowned author, linguist and award-winning translator of critically-acclaimed publications for adults and children, and an international authority on classical Urdu literature.Farooqi is a Harvard University South Asia Institute fellow. He is the founding editor of the Library of Urdu Classics (urduclassics.com), the founder and editor of the Online Urdu Thesaurus (urduthesaurus.com), and the founder and CEO of Storykit which develops activity-based learning products and tools, and implements them using Farooqi's Memorise, Connect, Improvise (MCI) method of interactive storytelling.