Regret: Two Novellas

A restlessness to express the possibilities of fictional dimensions lies at the root of Ikramullah’s versatility’ M. Salim ur Rahman, Friday Times Regret brilliantly recreates a childhood shattered by the Partition of India in 1947. Two lifelong friends, Ehsan and Saeed, reminisce about idyllic summer days spent bunking school, swimming in the canal and relishing the thrills of first love before the division of the subcontinent changed things forever. Out of Sight recounts the story of Ismail, who narrowly escaped the carnage of 1947 in his youth. Now, looking back on his life and despairing of the sudden resurgence of sectarian violence in Pakistan, Ismail resolves to protect those closest to him. Deeply moving, Ikramullah’s two novellas skilfully evoke the long shadow cast by the violence of Partition.