A Beautiful Lie by Irfan Master

A Beautiful Lie by Irfan Master
Buy A Beautiful Lie by Irfan Master at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Teens
Reviewer: Robert James
Summary: Bilal's father is already dying, but Bilal at least wants to spare him a broken heart. So begins a memorable and enchanting tale of a young boy and his friends determined to stop the truth about the Partition of India reaching a terminally ill man.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 304	Date: January 2011
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN: 978-1408805756
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Bedridden with cancer, Bilal's bapuji, or father, doesn't realise how far the plan for the Partition of India has progressed. Bilal has kept the news from him as he was worried that it would kill him – but when he accepts that death is imminent, Bilal swears to at least save him the pain of having his heart broken before he passes away. Along with his friends Chota, Manjeet and Saleem, Bilal swears to stop him from ever finding out. 1947 India, though, is a dangerous place for everyone, and there are people in their town who don't think that Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus should be doing anything together.

This novel manages to be utterly charming and seriously exciting at the same time. The friendship between the four boys, and the love Bilal has for his father, are beautifully portrayed and there are some thrilling sequences as the situation gets ever tenser approaching the day of Partition and arguments between the different religious groups more and more violent. All of the characters – from the main group of children, to Bilal's teacher, the town doctor, Bilal's older brother, and the local printer – are wonderfully well-rounded creations and even though he appears on relatively few pages, Bilal's bapuji is someone who feels truly real because of the way the other characters talk about him.

It's not an easy read by any means – there are some violent scenes, especially one where Bilal and Doctorji are confronted by men who accuse them of being spies, and another where the boys watch a brutal cockfight. It's extremely thought provoking, raising the question of whether Bilal is right to lie to his bapuji to protect him, or whether the dying man deserves to be told the truth even if it will hurt him. The book also does a brilliant job of evoking 1940's India, an unusual setting for a young adult novel, and really increased my interest in this time period.

As coming of age stories go, this is extremely strong and debut author Irfan Master has definitely catapulted himself straight onto my list of novelists to keep a close eye on.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.

Further reading suggestion: While it's aimed at adults, I think mature teens who enjoyed this book would also fall in love with What The Day Owes The Night by Yasmina Khadra, another tale of friends growing up in a country at a time of turmoil. For a tale of India after WWI, as opposed to WWII, I'd also recommend City of Ghosts by Bali Rai.

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