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Moth

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About this listen



Delhi, 1946. Ma and Bappu teach at the local university. Their fourteen-year-old daughter - precocious, headstrong Alma - is soon to be married: Alma is mostly interested in the wedding shoes and spinning wild stories for her little sister Roop.

Times are bad for girls in India: the long-awaited independence from British rule brings unrest that threatens to unravel the rich tapestry of Delhi. And when Partition happens overnight, Ma, Bappu, Alma and Roop are forced to find new and increasingly desperate ways to survive.

But the power of hope is an extraordinary thing...

©2021 Melody Razak (P)2021 Orion Publishing Group
Asia Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction India Literary Fiction South Asia Women's Fiction

Critic reviews

"I was utterly transported by Moth. Melody Razak takes us right to the heart and the heat of Partition-era Delhi - a fracturing city, a fracturing nation and a family attempting to hold themselves together when everything threatens to tear them apart. A stunning, powerful work by a brave new voice in British fiction." (Anna Hope, author of Expectations)

"Moth is a powerful and moving story of a liberal, Brahmin family caught up in the violence and social unrest of post-partition India. It is written with absolute fidelity to the small rituals of daily life, the allegiances and jealousies within families, and the huge and overwhelming forces of history. The writer's skill and sympathy are immense." (Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures)

"Powerful and heartbreaking." (Observer)

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The reader was really good and gave the book justice. I would recommend it

I really enjoyed this book, it kept me guessing. .

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I loved the lyrical writing and the story with bold characters - it draws you in to another place and time and the narrator has a beautiful lilting voice that was a pleasure to listen to

Beautifully read story that transports you

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