by M G Vassanji
And so I pray for a miracle. It’s another half hour before I see a figure approaching round the bend, from the direction of the entrance. Her head is covered with a scarf, and she has on a long dress — and that quick walk is surely familiar? I very much want her to be the woman I’ve lost.
April 28, 1995
Author’s Note
This book is a work of fiction. All the characters described here, the institutions called the Tech and the ISS, and the towns of Runymede, Glenmore, and Ashfield are fictitious; also fictitious are various organizations, including Inqalab International, the Freedom Action Committee, the Third World Liberation Front, and the Restore Iran Movement. The events described in this novel are all imaginary, except for the obvious and acknowledged historical ones, of which, however, I have given my own renditions. I should add that I have altered the year and some other details of the “forced marriage” episode in Zanzibar.
I should like to thank Umesh and Anita Garg, Shahbanu and Edward Goldberg, Saleem and Yasmin Kassam, Razia Damji and Jalal Ebrahim for their hospitality in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and California, and for their generous responses to my questions; Pankaj and Kishan Singh, of Shimla, and Harish Narang and Neerja Chand, of New Delhi; Fatma Aloo for whispering a story in my ear, in Dar es Salaam; Frances and Robin Davidson-Arnott and Stella Sandahl for providing refuge in Toronto; Laila Visram for the same in Santa Monica; and William and Tekla Deverell for making available a beautiful green spot on Pender Island to disappear into; my agent, Jan Whitford, for her encouragement; Mohamed Alibhai for answering many queries and Amin Malak for his enthusiasm and for putting some of my fears at rest; John Oliver Perry for a last-minute and timely response regarding Newton (Massachusetts); the MIT archives (Cambridge) and the North York Public Library (Toronto) for kindly obtaining or making available much useful historical material; the Canada Council for the Arts, for a generous grant; and also the Indian Institute of Advanced Study and its director, Professor Mrinal Miri, for their hospitality in Shimla, India.
Finally I am grateful to my family, Nurjehan, Anil, and Kabir, for their tolerance; to McClelland & Stewart for keeping faith; to my editor, Ellen Seligman, for her patience and brilliant observations; to my copy editor, Charles Stuart, for his care and for his useful suggestions; and to Anita Chong for her always cheerful and helpful assistance.