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A review by the_argumentative_bong
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
4.0
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani is an epistolary novel written from the viewpoint of a 12-year old girl Nisha, addressed to her long-dead mother. The book follows little Nisha, who together with her family, is forced to leave their home in Pakistan following the partition of India in 1947.
“Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home. The journey is long, difficult, and dangerous, and after losing her mother as a baby, Nisha can't imagine losing her homeland, too. But even if her country has been ripped apart, Nisha still believes in the possibility of putting herself back together.”
It is a beautifully written tale of a young girl's confusion, bewilderment, fear and sadness, when she leaves their home and town for good and travel many kilometres away to a new country to start their lives all over again, amidst an atmosphere of unexpected anger and religious hatred amongst those very people who had lived together for years in companionable harmony.
Although, strictly speaking, such coherence of thoughts in a 12-year old is hard to expect and accept; the writing style is simple, emotional and mesmerizing. Narrated by a child, the violence and the brutality is kept at a minimum, partly because it is a middle grade historical fiction, and partly to focus on a child’s innocent perspective about one of the most heartbreaking episodes of India’s struggle for independence. As an overly sensitive child, Nisha witnesses and experiences many things that may be overlooked by adults, but she cannot communicate her feelings aloud to anyone except her twin brother, and through her letters...to her mother.
The Night Diary is an emotional and insightful book that asks questions that are still left unanswered, even after more than 70 years of Indian independence.
“Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home. The journey is long, difficult, and dangerous, and after losing her mother as a baby, Nisha can't imagine losing her homeland, too. But even if her country has been ripped apart, Nisha still believes in the possibility of putting herself back together.”
It is a beautifully written tale of a young girl's confusion, bewilderment, fear and sadness, when she leaves their home and town for good and travel many kilometres away to a new country to start their lives all over again, amidst an atmosphere of unexpected anger and religious hatred amongst those very people who had lived together for years in companionable harmony.
Although, strictly speaking, such coherence of thoughts in a 12-year old is hard to expect and accept; the writing style is simple, emotional and mesmerizing. Narrated by a child, the violence and the brutality is kept at a minimum, partly because it is a middle grade historical fiction, and partly to focus on a child’s innocent perspective about one of the most heartbreaking episodes of India’s struggle for independence. As an overly sensitive child, Nisha witnesses and experiences many things that may be overlooked by adults, but she cannot communicate her feelings aloud to anyone except her twin brother, and through her letters...to her mother.
The Night Diary is an emotional and insightful book that asks questions that are still left unanswered, even after more than 70 years of Indian independence.