New Books In Historical Fiction

Victory Colony, 1950 (Yoda Press, 2020) by Bhaswati Ghosh is a story of resilience about East Pakistani refugees who were forced to leave their homes in East Pakistan because of their Hindu faith. After Amala’s parent are killed in the violence following the partition of India in 1947, she and her brother manage to survive until they reach Calcutta. Within moments of disembarking from their train, Amala loses Kartik, and comes close to being hauled off by groping policemen. She’s saved by several young volunteers who steer Amala away and into a refugee camp. Manas, a student and the volunteer leader, comes from a privileged, wealthy family that doesn’t approve of fraternizing with refugees. But he cares about these poverty-stricken people, especially Amala. When conditions start deteriorating in the refugee camp, a group men and women manage to occupy a vacant plot of land nearby. There they begin to rebuild their lives with backbreaking work, in a society of their own making. Bhaswati Ghosh has written and t