<p><em style="color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 1)">Tales From Birehra</em><span style="color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 1)"> is a novel written in linked stories set in a village in India during the '40s. During the Second World War, the movement to gain freedom from the British gains momentum in India. The British get out of the country in a hurry, &nbsp;&nbsp;leaving a trail of blood and devastation behind them.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 1)">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 1)">With profoundly vivid storytelling that delves into the symbiotic Hindu-Muslim relationship shared across the Indian sub-continent before the ending of the British Raj, Tales from Birehra is a unique and truly compelling narrative.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 1)">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 1)">Birehra is a fictional microcosm of the country</span></p><p><span style="color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 1)">and times-a tiny village, shared peacefully by people of different faiths, and</span></p><p><span style="color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 1)">shaped by four hundred years of life lived close to the land and guided by the</span></p><p><span style="color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 1)">rhythms of the seasons. Could it all be washed away by the looming tide of an</span></p><p><span style="color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 1)">evolving political climate, so far removed from their time-honoured yet straightforward</span></p><p><span style="color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 1)">existence? Could such a thing even be possible when Birehra's roots run so</span></p><p><span style="color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 1)">deep, anchoring it to the land and the heart of a people?</span></p><p><span style="color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 1)">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 1)">With vivid scenery and characters who seem to</span></p><p><span style="color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 1)">breathe with colourful life, Rafi Mustafa draws his readers into the culture he</span></p><p><span style="color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 1)">describes, making them treasure its simple joys and dread its looming</span></p><p><span style="color: rgba(51, 51, 51, 1)">devastation.</span></p><p><br></p>