The Book of Gold Leaves

In an ancient house in the city of Srinagar, Kashmir, Faiz paints exquisite papier-mache pencil boxes for tourists. Evening is beginning to slip into night as he sets off for the shrine. From a window across the courtyard, Roohi, the girl with long black hair watches him. Roohihas been waiting for him, waiting for a love story. A letter will be written, a message will be delivered, a meeting in secret will be arranged. And so the love story begins. But the city is simmering with violent rebellion, and it is only a matter of time before Srinagar is engulfed by the gathering storm and the fate of the secret lovers becomes terrifyingly uncertain. From the highly-acclaimed author of The Collaborator comes a novel of piercing lyricism, a story of the impossible choice between personal duty and romantic love.