PHANTOM LOVERS: TWO NOVELLAS by ACHALA MOULIK
Niyogi Books takes pride in presenting Achala Moulik’s Phantom Lovers: Two Novellas, featuring two moving stories of young Indian women who fall in love with an Englishman and an Afghan, respectively. The lyrical writing, set against tumultuous historical and political times, make the stories compelling reading.
Price: INR 595 / Format: Paperback / Pages: 384
Author Achala Moulik, on her book, commented, ‘The great writer Leo Tolstoy believed that novels should be built around a scaffolding of reality to deepen their dramatic impact. I have tried to follow this in my novels. Phantom Lovers is inspired by the lives and loves of four people I knew. I have set their turbulent stories against the places where they lived—British Raj Bengal, post imperial London, Italy in the 1970s, Afghanistan when the turmoil began. The four lovers are from different cultures and creeds, and in their quest for fulfilment encountered many challenges. Their stories perhaps demonstrate that affinity of the spirit can overcome barriers to find happiness in the midst of the violence and antagonisms we are seeing in the world today.
Commenting on the book, Trisha De Niyogi, COO & Director of Niyogi Books said, ‘Everybody loves a good romance, and in the two novellas in Phantom Lovers the authors depiction of how love triumphs over adversity, as the separated lovers overcome barriers of time and distance to reunite with their loved ones, is very life-affirming. Apart from being heart-warming romances, the novellas also offer many insights into the historical and political backgrounds of their times.’
About the Book
Phantom Lovers comprises two lyrical novellas–With Fate Conspire and Wait!
With Fate Conspire narrates how, despite the antagonism between the imperial British and the subjugated Indians, a young British magistrate is entranced by a zamindar’s daughter in Bengal. On a stormy night they elope to their planned paradise–until the Mutiny of 1857 intrudes on their lives. A century later in London their predicament is mysteriously reflected in the turbulent fate of another Englishman and an Indian girl.
Wait! is about two lovers in Rome–an Afghan academic and an Indian woman who plan an idyllic life together. Then the violent coup of April 1978 in Afghanistan forever changes their destinies and of that nation.
Caught in these tempests the separated lovers in both stories defy danger and despair as they travel across strange frontiers of time and space to find their lost beloveds.
With haunting beauty the award-winning author describes the destinies of the lovers against the dramatic background of the British Raj in Bengal as well as the conflicts of our times across Kabul, Rome and London.
About the Author
Achala Moulik received her education in Washington, New York, London and Rome, where her father Dr Moni Moulik and mother Leela were posted on diplomatic assignments. She graduated from London University with a degree in Economics, History, International Relations and International Law. In the Indian Administrative Service she served as Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India and Education Secretary, Government of India, when the national education programme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan was formulated.
She has published books on the political and cultural history of Russia, Italy and Spain; several books on Indian monuments and sites and World Heritage Monuments; biographies of Rabindranath Tagore, Leo Tolstoy, brief biographies of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Tagore, Pushkin, and Solzhenitsyn jointly with her mother Leela, aunt Bela and sister Aloka. Her play Pushkin’s Last Poem was performed in Moscow, St Petersburg, New Delhi and Bangalore to standing ovations.
Achala Moulik was invited to Moscow to receive the prestigious Pushkin Medal from the Russian President, and the Sergey Yesenin Prize from the Russian Ministry of Culture. She is a member of the jury for awarding the Leo Tolstoy International Peace Prize.
About Niyogi Books
An internationally acclaimed publishing house, Niyogi Books, established in 2004, has more than 700 titles today. Niyogi Books not only specializes in textual context but also strive to give equal importance to visuals. It purveys a wide range of content on art, architecture, history, culture, spirituality, memoirs, and every aspect which connects with our rich heritage. The house has co-published a number of critically acclaimed books with reputed institutions like the British Library, Rietberg Museum Zurich, IGNCA, National Gallery of Modern Art, Ministry of Culture (Govt. of India), National Manuscript Mission, Sahitya Akademi, among many others.
They also publish fiction and non-fiction that cover books on social science, cookery, and self-help as well as English Translation of modern classics from different Indian languages. Niyogi Books now has four more Imprints: Olive Turtle (English fiction), Thornbird (English Translation), Paper Missile (English non-fiction) and Bahuvachan (Hindi Translation: Fiction & Non-Fiction).
For more details, please contact:
Tultul De Niyogi
Co-Publisher
Phone: +91 98110 38556
E-mail: tultulniyogi@niyogibooksindia.com
Trisha De Niyogi
COO & Director
Phone: +91 9999501175
E-mail: trishaniyogi@niyogibooksindia.com
