Lahore, 1938. Drawn by the smell of roses, nine-year-old calligrapher Firdaus Khan
walks in on young Samir Vij studying scents at the back of his family's ittar shop. Thus
begins a love story written in dark and delicate ink.
However, with the 1947 Partition and the birth of two independent nations, Samir, a
Hindu, becomes Indian and Firdaus, a Muslim, becomes Pakistani. Bound by family and
fate, as Firdaus and Samir move farther away from each other, they must decide how
to hold on to their memories...
An assured debut novel from historian Aanchal Malhotra, The Book of Everlasting
Things is both intimate and sweeping. A story spanning continents and generations that
makes visible how threads of the past braid with those of the future, here is a book
which will linger in the reader's mind like the notes of an unforgettable perfume.
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