THE MIRACULOUS TRUE HISTORY OF NOMI ALI

Heaven or hell? Paradise or prison? The Andaman Islands in the early 1940s—the setting for Khan’s fifth novel—are rife with paradox.

Years ago, in India, Haider Ali was convicted of a double homicide by the British government and transported to South Andaman Island, where he served out his jail term and was then given a hut to live in. His wife was sent with him and gave birth to two children. Now, at the height of World War II, the island's residents are caught up in the battle between foreign empires, the British and the Japanese. The idyllic beauty of the islands conflicts with the horrors of prison life, indigence, and the ravages of war; the island is a microcosm of the cruel effects of British colonization, and Haider points out that “no Indian, not even one who had never been inside a jail, was free.” Nomi and Zee Ali, unlike their parents, are Local Borns coming of age within this complex geopolitical landscape. When the Japanese invade the island in 1942, the fragile existence the Alis have built in exile is shattered forever. In a historical novel that is both deeply researched and beautifully written, Khan shines light on a story little known outside the Andaman Islands and gives voice to the most vulnerable in this global narrative. At times, the first half of the novel can seem a bit disorienting with all of its figurative language, twists in chronology, and nuanced political situations. This may be intentional, though—a metaphor for the exiled inhabitants of the island who are ultimately portrayed as people without a country. Things pick up quickly in the second half as Nomi’s story hurtles to its heartbreaking but empowering conclusion.

Khan perfectly captures global history in all of its ironic and disorienting glory.