The Half Mother : A Novel

Shahnaz Bashir

'The night is tired now,

the old moon, hanging in the dark sky,

is tired too'?

It is the 1990s, and Kashmir's long war has begun to claim its first victims. Among them are Ghulam Rasool Joo, Haleema's father, and her teenage son Imran, who is picked up by the authorities only to disappear into the void of Kashmir's missing people.

The Half Mother is the story of Haleema - a mother and a daughter yesterday, a 'half mother' and an orphan today; tormented by not knowing whether Imran is dead or alive, torn apart by her own lonely existence. While she battles for answers and seeks out torture camps, jails and morgues for any signs of Imran, Kashmir burns in a war that will haunt it for years to come.

Heart-wrenching, deeply troubling and lyrical, The Half Mother marks the debut of a bold new voice from Kashmir.