A luminous, hypnotic novel, as much about the beauty of language as it is about the struggles of life' ANN PATCHETT '[A] wise, tender novel — Karuna Ezara Parikh writes about love, faith and friendships ... with astounding grace' NILANJANA ROY 'A tender, elegant exploration of what it means to love as the world devolves into division and chaos' PRAYAAG AKBAR 'An intoxicating and immersive exploration of love and faith, of the forces that shape our world and relationships' LISA RAY 'Poignant and powerful, this debut novel obfuscates boundaries of landscape and love; with tenderness, it sews up a subcontinent divided' AANCHAL MALHOTRA 'Evocative and transporting' AVNI DOSHI An extraordinary tale of love in a world being torn asunder. It is 2001 and Daya and Aaftab have just met in a park in Cardiff. She is studying ballet and he is practising in a law firm. She falls madly in love. He does, but he also cannot, because he is Muslim and there are certain rules. Set in a world of students, Karuna Ezara Parikh sets up a dazzling framework of impossible, forbidden love, difficult joyous friendship, as she delves into migration, Islamophobia and jihad in the wake of a cataclysmic terror event that will have dangerous ramifications the world over. Brilliantly crafted, this magical first novel reveals with great power and grace both the agony and the ecstasy of being human.