The Book of Everlasting Things

From oral historian Aanchal Malhotra, a lush, sweeping debut novel in the vein of All the Light We Cannot See, about a Hindu perfumer and a Muslim calligrapher, who fall in love against the backdrop of Partition

On a January morning in 1938, Samir Vij first locks eyes with Firdaus Khan through the rows of perfume bottles in his family’s ittar shop in Lahore. Over the years that follow, the perfumer’s apprentice and calligrapher’s apprentice fall in love with their ancient crafts and with each other, dreaming of the life they will one day share. But as the struggle for Indian independence gathers force, their beloved city is ravaged by Partition. Suddenly, they find themselves on opposite sides: Samir, a Hindu, becomes Indian and Firdaus, a Muslim, becomes Pakistani, their love now forbidden. Severed from one another, Samir and Firdaus make a series of fateful decisions that will change the course of their lives forever. As their paths spiral away from each other, they must each decide how much of the past they are willing to let go, and what it will cost them.

Lush, sensuous, and deeply romantic, The Book of Everlasting Things is the story of two lovers and two nations, split apart by forces beyond their control, yet bound by love and memory. Filled with exquisite descriptions of perfume and calligraphy, spanning continents and generations, Aanchal Malhotra’s debut novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

About the Author

Aanchal Malhotra is a writer and oral historian based in Delhi, India. Malhotra writes extensively on the 1947 Partition and its related topics. Her first book, Remnants of a Separation, was shortlisted for several prizes, including the British Academy’s Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for Global Cultural Understanding and the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize. Her book on the generational impact of Partition, titled In the Language of Remembering, is forthcoming. She is also the co-founder of the Museum of Material Memory. The Book of Everlasting Things is her debut novel.