Gayatri Sethi’s scrupulous suggestions were essential. I am indebted to her not only for her investment in this novel, but also for her emotional investment in me as an author. Roohi Choudhry’s keen critique guided me toward rounder, more fully realized characters. Tiara Bhatacharya’s invaluable expertise on Partition ensured that the plot, while fictional, was as consistent with historical events as possible.

There are several institutions and organizations today that collect the stories of survivors from the Partition, including the 1947 Partition Archive and the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute at Harvard University. I am grateful to them for their scrupulous work, invaluable archives, and their tremendous support.

I wrote early drafts of The Parted Earth during my MFA program at Queens University in Charlotte. Many thanks to my workshop colleagues and instructors, especially Pinkney Benedict. I had the immense honor of attending writers’ residencies at the Hambidge Center, Wild Acres, and the (no longer) Rivendell Writers Colony. I’m grateful to the staff for the space to write.

Much love to my parents, my husband, and my three children, who have endured this long road to publication with me and cheered me to the finish line. I could not have crossed it without their love and support.

I’ve dedicated this book to my grandmothers. I miss them more than words can say, but am grateful for my memories and their stories.

FURTHER READING ABOUT PARTITION

What the Body Remembers by Shauna Singh Baldwin

The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India by Urvashi Butalia

Midnight’s Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India’s Partition by Nisid Hajari

The Pity of Partition: Manto’s Work, Life and Times Across the India-Pakistan Divide by Ayesha Jalal

The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan by Yasmin Khan

In Freedom’s Shade by Anis Kidwai

Partitions by Amit Majmudar

Mottled Dawn by Saadat Hasan Manto

Tamas by Bhisham Sahni

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

Salt and Saffron by Kamila Shamsie

Mandalay’s Child by Prem Sharma

Cracking India & Ice Candy Man by Bapsi Sidhwa

Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER Charles Frazier generously supports publication of a series of Hub City Press books through the Cold Mountain Fund at the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. The Cold Mountain Series spotlights works of fiction by new and extraordinary writers from the American South. Books published in this series have been reviewed in outlets like Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Garden & Gun, Entertainment Weekly, and O, the Oprah Magazine; included on Best Books lists from NPR, Kirkus, and the American Library Association; and have won or been nominated for awards like the Southern Book Prize, Crooks Corner Book Prize, and the Langum Prize for Historical Fiction.

You Want More: The Selected Stories of George Singleton

The Prettiest Star•Carter Sickels

Watershed•Mark Barr

The Magnetic Girl•Jessica Handler