Homecoming

by Adib Khan

  I am indebted to Harcourt for permission to quote an excerpt from Carl Sandburg’s poem, ‘Murmurings in a Field Hospital’, on page 39.

  There are several versions of the story of Kisagotami. The one I have used is an amalgamation of what I have heard in the Indian subcontinent.

  My thanks to the two Vietnam veterans, who prefer not to be named, for their narratives that sparked the ideas for this novel.

  I am also indebted to the administrator of the ashram in Rocklyn for permission to set part of the novel there.

  ADIB KHAN

  Also by Adib Khan

  Seasonal Adjustments

  Solitude of Illusions

  The Storyteller

  Copyright

  The writing of this project has been assisted

  by the Commonwealth through the Australia Council,

  its arts funding and advisory body.

  Harper Perennial

  An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

  First published in Australia in 2003

  This edition published 2010

  by HarperCollins Publishers Pty Limited

  ABN 36 009 913 517

  A member of the HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Limited Group

  www.harpercollins.com.au

  Copyright © Adib Khan 2003

  PS. material prepared by Annabel Blay; copyright © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

  The right of Adib Khan to be identified as the moral rights author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000 (Cth).

  This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  HarperCollins Publishers

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  Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

  Khan, Adib.

  Homecoming.

  ISBN 0 7322 7707 8. (pbk.)

  ISBN 978 0 7304 4473 2 (epub)

  1. Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 – Veterans –Australia – Fiction.

  I. Title.

  A823.3

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