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Description
Amah and the Silk-Winged Pigeons draws on the lost histories of the women descended from African slaves who resisted English rule during the 1857 uprising in Lucknow, India. The book is about the event that triggered Queen Victoria’s reign in India for almost a century, and illuminates new and important female, Muslim perspectives on what has been called the first war of Indian independence. Lucknow in 1856 is the most opulent city in India. If the English take it over, the royal family and centuries of rich, cosmopolitan culture will disappear. Amah, personal bodyguard to the King, wants to make sure this doesn’t happen. Ex-Queen, Hazrat Mahal, has the money to fortify against the English. Both women are daughters of African slaves who have grown in wealth and power thanks to the reign of the Indian royal family in Lucknow. The English are a small number, compared to the native population in the city, but Lucknow has never known war. When the women decide to take on the English colonists who declare rule, what will be the ultimate price of the women’s loyalty to the royal family and to the place they’ve grown to love?
Contributor Notes
Currently the Director of the BFA program in Creative Writing at Truman State University in Missouri, Jocelyn Cullity’s English family lived in India for five generations. Cullity’s short stories and essays have been published in Canadian, American, and Indian literary journals. Her award-winning historical novel, Amah & the Silk-Winged Pigeons, published by Inanna Publications, was included in the 2017 International “Recommended List of 20 Books” by The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction honoring books in the UK, Ireland, and Commonwealth countries. She was born in Australia, grew up north of Toronto, Canada, and has lived for periods of time in both India and England.
Awards
- Winner, Best Book Award, Historical Fiction
Editorial Review
“Beautifully written and deeply researched, this debut novel will hold and intrigue its readers. Warmly recommended.” — Rosie Llewellyn-Jones, author of Engaging Scoundrels: True Tales of Old Lucknow
“Cullity’s setting is redolent of Indian life, its tastes and smells, its colors and textures. She handles the themes of empire and cultural conflict with huge tact and clarity. Her storytelling is first-rate.” —Jay Parini, author of The Last Station
“Amah and the Silk-Winged Pigeons, based on real people and events, is a novel prodigiously researched, in which the research is so thoroughly composted into character that we lose ourselves in the rich settings and these imagined lives. A wonderful read.”— Janet Burroway, author of Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft
“This historical novel is amazingly detailed and is doubtlessly enhanced through the author’s sharing of her personal heritage.” — US Review of Books
