The Book of Everlasting Things
A Novel
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4.6 • 10 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
FOR FANS OF ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE, A LUSH, SWEEPING LOVE STORY ABOUT A HINDU PERFUMER AND A MUSLIM CALLIGRAPHER, SET AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF PARTITION
“Monumental…A far-reaching love story.” —NPR (A Best Book of the Year)
“Mesmerizing.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Exquisite.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“Majestic.” —Booklist (starred review)
On a January morning in 1938, Samir Vij first locks eyes with Firdaus Khan through the rows of perfume bottles in his family’s ittar shop in Lahore. Over the years that follow, the perfumer’s apprentice and calligrapher’s apprentice fall in love with their ancient crafts and with each other, dreaming of the life they will one day share. But as the struggle for Indian independence gathers force, their beloved city is ravaged by Partition. Suddenly, they find themselves on opposite sides: Samir, a Hindu, becomes Indian and Firdaus, a Muslim, becomes Pakistani, their love now forbidden. Severed from one another, Samir and Firdaus make a series of fateful decisions that will change the course of their lives forever. As their paths spiral away from each other, they must each decide how much of the past they are willing to let go, and what it will cost them.
Lush, sensuous, and deeply romantic, The Book of Everlasting Things is the story of two lovers and two nations, split apart by forces beyond their control, yet bound by love and memory. Filled with exquisite descriptions of perfume and calligraphy, spanning continents and generations, Aanchal Malhotra’s debut novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At the heart of Indian artist and writer Malhotra's sweeping debut novel (after the memoir Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects from a Continent Divided) is an indelible love story between two young apprentices of ancient arts: Samir Vij, a Hindu boy born with an extraordinary sense of smell that equips him for the family perfume business started by his uncle Vivek; and Firdaus Khan, a Muslim girl whose calligrapher father defies custom by teaching her his craft (only boys are expected to work). Spanning over a century, from the early 1900s to 2017, the author focuses her mesmerizing tale on the 1947 Partition and its devastating impact on the city of Lahore, where multicultural families and friends who once lived in harmony are wrenched apart. The budding childhood love story between Samir and Firdaus becomes a forbidden romance when the partition dooms their relationship—which later haunts them throughout their separate lives. Malhotra skillfully interweaves Vivek's story—a competent young man in the family textile business who goes off to war and returns irrevocably scarred by battle and a personal tragedy—into Samir's complex trajectory, and beautifully conveys the artistry behind perfumes. What emerges is a transcendent study of the blurring of personal and political, as ordinary people deal with catastrophic historical events.
Customer Reviews
Descriptive, but obvious unconscious bias
I like how the book is incredibly descriptive and riveting at times, but it’s also frustratingly repetitive. As someone who has heard partition stories from my own grandfather, the bias against Muslims is honestly very callously placed in the book in subtle ways. It was disappointing and took away from the overall quality of the book for me.