A Village Divided

A masterpiece of Hindi literature in an acclaimed translation

Rahi Masoom Reza’s honest and controversial novel unfolds during the latter years of the Raj and the first decade of Independence and portrays the rival halves of a zamindar family, their loves, fights and litigations. It attacks the creation of Pakistan and explores the abolition of the zamindari system and its impact at the village level. A semi-autobiographical work set in the author’s village of Gangauli, in Ghazipur district on the fringes of Avadh, A Village Divided, previously published as The Feuding Families of Village Gangauli, is full of passion and vibrancy, a powerful record of the meeting of Muslim and Hindu cultural traditions that bound Indian society together.

‘The portrayal of Partition and the trauma involved in it has been very convincing…Ms Wright has done justice to the translation of the book.’ —Hindustan Times

‘This novel can be indisputably cited as a brilliant tour de force in what a Third World narrative is or should be.’ —Tribune

‘[Gillian Wright’s] translations … are singular contributions, providing larger audiences to masterpieces that would otherwise have remained confined.’ —Indian Express