A SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WESTMINSTER BOOK AWARDS

A TABLET BOOK OF THE YEAR

‘One of the best memoirs I have read in recent years’ SATHNAM SANGHERA

‘Beautifully written, emotional, and deeply personal, yet universal... You can't help but be moved by this story of upheaval and transformation’ SADIQ KHAN

An extraordinary family memoir from acclaimed journalist and newsreader, Mishal Husain, that reveals the lives of her grandparents amidst empire, political turmoil, and partition.

‘W witnesses the dwindling glow of the British Empire. I saw small people burdened with great responsibilities, playing with the fate of millions’

The lives of Mishal Husain's grandparents changed forever in 1947, as the new national entities of India and Pakistan were born. For years, she had a partial story, a mosaic of memories and anecdotes: hasty departures, fortunate escapes from violence, and homes never seen again.

Decades later, a piece of an old sari led her on a journey through time, using letters, diaries, memoirs, and recordings to trace four lives shaped by Raj, a world war, independence, and partition.

Mumtaz rejects his arranged marriage as he forges a life with Mary, a devout Catholic from an Anglo-Indian family, while Tahirah and Shahid closely observe the politics of pre-partition Delhi. As freedom comes, bonds break and communities split, leaving two couples to forge new identities while never forgetting their shared heritage of the past.

‘Husain has written a remarkable family memoir... her explanation of partition is more nuanced than that of many professional historians’ THE TIMES

‘A spectacular achievement. It is a shrewd and carefully researched historical account, and as emotionally engaging and true as a personal narrative’ GUARDIAN

‘[Husain] has managed to make this complex story so accessible’ OBSERVER

‘I was deeply moved by this poignant and profoundly emotional narrative that is both a love story and a historical account of one of the most devastating events in South Asia’ BARKHA DUTT

‘Like the silk threads in the precious piece of hereditary sari it is titled after, Broken Threads is woven from rich sources. It is a beautiful book, informative and enlightening, raw and real, poetic and imperative’ FINANCIAL TIMES

Pages: 336, Dimensions: 12.9x12.9cm