Furies: Stories of the wicked, wild and untamed - feminist tales from 15 bestselling, award-winning authors

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Aims to show how the violence that the Partition created defines the relationship between India and Pakistan until today

Harridan” by Linda Grant - jauns pāris Covid-19 pandēmijā mēģina sadzīvot ar īgnu veču kaimiņos (bet varbūt par novecošanu); It might have been the scudding of clouds, or the shifting of the branches in the night breeze, but for an instant there was movement on X’s skin – no, not on, but under, so that the shape of his face was transfigured. Beneath his own features I descried those of another, the lines sharp and animalistic, the teeth jagged and sharp, and I smelled, amid the man’s floral scent, a hint of burning.”

Children’s book of the week

Margaret Atwood, Susie Boyt, Eleanor Crewes, Emma Donoghue, Stella Duffy, Linda Grant, Claire Kohda, CN Lester, Kirsty Logan, Caroline O’Donoghue, Chibundu Onuzo, Helen Oyeyemi, Rachel Seiffert, Kamila Shamsie and Ali Smith – introduced by Sandi Toksvig. It was like a film, she would later tell me, with everyone holding their breath as they wondered to whom she might point the finger of blame

Covers events in Punjab, Kashmir and Bengal; afterwards India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka Unfortunately, I felt this was a really tough read. While I certainly wouldn't expect a 101-level textbook to spoon-feed me, I found the text a real struggle. The focus is the conflict surrounding the eventual creation of modern India and Pakistan: from the politics to the violence in the streets. But unfortunately it's tough to grasp with the large cast of characters (there is no "Who's who" list and maybe it's just me who had trouble keeping who's who separate). I also found the text genuinely difficult to read. Some sections were fascinating and kept me going, but there were several places where my eyes dragged and I just felt it just wasn't compelling reading.Meanwhile, Melissa Thombs is in an abusive relationship that she is trying to get out of with Parker’s assistance. However, he will learn that she is far from a victim, and her own aggression and determination will be more invaluable than any help he could provide her. Nonetheless, Pakistan itself clearly seems to have been a half-baked idea concocted callously by Jinnah, and perhaps even supported by the British as a means to handicap a newly-independent India. In Furies, one of the leading scholars of Renaissance history captures the dark reality of the period in a gripping narrative mosaic. As Lauro Martines shows us, total war was no twentieth-century innovation. These conflicts spared no civilians in their path. A Renaissance army was a mobile city-indeed, a force of 20,000 or 40,000 men was larger than many cities of the day. And it was a monster, devouring food and supplies for miles around. It menaced towns and the countryside-and itself-with famine and disease, often more lethal than combat. Fighting itself was savage, its violence increased by the use of newly invented weapons, from muskets to mortars.

acumulades, els animals i les llavors per a la següent collita eren requisats, deixant a la població en una situació d’extrema pobresa.

Así, Martines se pregunta, ¿cómo sería para la gente normal vivir bajo este estado de guerra permanente, acosados por los reclutadores, los impuestos, la obligación de alojar a los soldados, la rapiña, los asedios, las enfermedades, el hambre y todo tipo de desgracias? Guerras que en la práctica eran tanto contra el enemigo como contra el propio pueblo, que no sólo alimentaba los ejércitos con la leva forzosa, los impuestos o la obligación de alojar y alimentar a las tropas, sino que sufría las consecuencias violentas de los conflictos, los asedios, los saqueos, el hambre, la peste, y los soldados hambrientos que saqueaban pueblos arrasados por años de guerra. So many eternal decisions were taken under high emotional stress, without a careful glimpse into the future and without consideration of overt repurcussions. And for what? To maintain oneself in a position of power. Normal populace was martyred in this tug of war of power between politicians, tearing a country asunder. Book #20 in the Charlie Parker series is comprised of two novellas: The Sisters Strange and The Furies. Finalment, el que queda és un llibre que descriu els detalls més escabrosos de la guerra amb l’objectiu de mostrar-ne el sofriment i les seves víctimes. Però aquestaa mirada cap a baix només es queda en això: una mirada, ja que en cap moment es fa un estudi en profunditat i analític. All the hallmarks of the Parker series are here and in fine form. Louis and Angel, two of Parker’s constant companions, shined brightly (especially so when confronting their peers in organized crime). The Braycott Arms Motel and its seemingly lone staff member in Bonny Wadlin, are excellent additions to Parker’s world. The location and Wadlin himself link both stories together as common elements. I love this as a resting place for some of Portland’s most disruptive presences.

The military junta would join with the mullahs to rally around religion, instead of to the secular society envisioned by Jinnah The result is a fast-paced, visceral account of the paroxysmal violence that erupted on the subcontinent in the wake of partition. While Hajari takes great pains to present his book as an even-handed assessment, it’s clear that his sympathies lie (perhaps justifiably) with Nehru, who is depicted as a charismatic, reasonable leader seen leaping into violent mobs in an attempt to deescalate the genocidal fury of his compatriots. Conversely, Jinnah comes across as a haughty, bitter opportunist, once a rising star within the Indian National Congress who found his status reduced to that of a peripheral community leader with the rise of Gandhi. In this context, his Muslim League’s strident demands for an independent Pakistan almost begin to seem more like a manifestation of personal ambition than anything else. This feels a dash unfair, but I don’t know enough to contest the portraits with alternatives of my own. If we don't make up our minds on what we are going to do, there will be pandemonium. If we do, there may also be pandemonium" We share lots of stories over on the Book Fairy Blog, to show how incredible book fairies really are. They really do go above and beyond. Book Fairy Emma Watson Pandemonium is the first word which comes to mind when one revisits the blood soaked days of the vivisection of India on sectarian lines in the ides of August,1947. The questions posed by partition echo to this day in the power corridors of India and Pakistan as well as the forlorn hearts of the survivors. Why exactly did partition become the only way out of the power struggle between Indian National Congress and Muslim League in the 1940s ? Why did the birth of the new nations had to be a Caesarean surgery that involved bloodshed of a million hearts ? Who are the heroes and villains of The Great Partition Drama ? Is it even possible to fix responsibility in this complex maze of intrigues and Machiavellian plots ?

Well researched, with a very strong imagery and extremely powerful writing style that not just successfully recreates the scenario, making readers shiver and shudder at the ghastliness of a civil war, but also keeps the reader glued to words laid heavy with meaning. John Connolly’s latest supernatural thriller, “The Furies”, is actually two novels for the price of one. Both feature Connolly’s private detective Charlie Parker, a man haunted by demons, both figurative and literal. Strangely enough, things are going well for Parker, who has found some semblance of a life in Maine. He has a favorite watering hole, friends, and even the occasional client, but he is extremely discriminating about the types of cases he signs on to anymore. This one might seem like a bit of a stretch for the definition of a furry novel but it is just too good to not include. George Orwell’s renowned work of literature, Animal Farm, published in 1945, is a political allegory of the Russian Revolution and the early Soviet Union. The book is narrated from the point of view of the creatures living on a farm, who cast off their human master and attempt to manage the farm on their own. Partition was so unprecedented, so impossible to accomplish with perfect fairness, that it seems absurd to condemn any one person for so large a tragedy. Of course, I say this from a remote geographical distance. For Indians and Pakistanis, partition is personal, and remains a source of contention and finger-pointing. It is quite possible that others will sense a personal bias in Hajari – an Indian writer raised in the United States – that I did not. If you go seeking ways to bring down hurt upon yourself, life will oblige you, because it has hurt in store for you anyway, but will happily welcome any assistance you're in the mood to offer. Better, then, not to oblige it any more than necessary. I'd like to have said that this was a lesson hard-learned, but it would suggest my education was in the past, whereas it was still ongoing.