An extraordinarily rich debut novel, set in India in 1947 at the time of Partition, touching on the importance of tolerance, love and family. The main character is Bilal, a boy determined to protect his dying father from the news of Partition - news that he knows will break his father's heart. With great spirit and determination, and with the help of his good friends, Bilal persuades others to collude with him in this deception, even printing false pages of the local newspaper to hide the ravages of unrest from his father. All that Bilal wants is for his father to die in peace. But that means Bilal has a very complicated relationship with the truth...

An extraordinarily rich debut novel, set in India at the time of Partition. Although the backdrop is this key event in Indian history, the novel is even more far-reaching, touching on the importance of tolerance, love and family. The central plot focuses on Bilau, a boy who is determined to protect his dying father from the realities of the unrest and upheaval on the eve of Partition - the riots, the bloodshed, the aggression. With great spirit and determination, Bilau persuades the whole of his village to collude with him in this deception, even going to the lengths of printing false pages of the newspaper to hide the ravages of unrest from his father, thus allowing his father to die at peace.