CIVIL LINES, RADHIKA SWARUP

Two estranged sisters ... a family secret that has lain buried for decades ... a search for the truth. Shocking, poignant, and life affirming, Civil Lines is a family saga that explores belonging and an ode to every girl who dreams not of being rescued by a prince but that a brighter future lies within her grasp. In the early 1990s, Rupa Sharma founds a magazine and pens her first – and last – editorial: The future has never looked brighter. The fires of communal tension appear to have been vanquished. More women are entering the workforce than ever before, and everywhere I look, I see new possibilities. I see dialogue, I see tolerance, and I see openness. I see hope for myself and my colleagues, and for the two daughters I am bringing up to be fearless inheritors of this earth. Decades later, her daughter Siya travels to Delhi in the wake of her reclusive mother’s death, leaving behind a failing relationship and an unravelling life.