Lined with grandeur, tragedy, and fantasy, Tarana Husain Khan’s odyssey maps the social, political, and religious contours of 1897 Sherpur with the fascinating and strong-willed Feroza Begum at the center of the storm.

On an evening not too many evenings ago, the blue-eyed Feroza, flouting her family’s orders, attended Nawab Shams Ali Khan’s sawani celebrations at the Benazir Palace. Tragedy colored the night when she found herself kidnapped and withheld in Nawab’s harem – bustling, tantalizing, and rife with sinister power play. As tyranny and repression tightened their hold inside the royal walls, at the Bazaar Chowk, dastangoi Kallan Mirza enchanted his listeners with the legend of sorcerer Tareek Jaan and his chimeric city, the Tilism-e-Azam, where women were confined in underground basements.

Misfortune and subjugation link eras when Ameera, Feroza’s great-granddaughter, is restricted to her house and finds solace in her Dadi’s retelling of Feroza’s tragedy. When Ameera’s circumstances begin mirroring the strife and indignities pervasive in 1897 Sherpur, she must reflect on how society has shifted enough for women and their choices.

Written with careful flamboyance and striking evocativeness, 
ISBN: 9789698729622
Publisher: LIBERTY BOOKS
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Author: TARANA HUSAIN KHAN