The Hour Past Midnight

Salma is a major Indian political leader, who in 2003 faced obscenity charges and violent threats for her collection of erotic poetry. Undeterred, she's back with a beautiful, evocative, and poetic novel-now available for the first time in English. *The Hour Past Midnight* is a rare glimpse into the lives of Muslim women in traditionalist South Indian families. Salma gives us Rabia who is caught sneaking off to see a movie with friends and is beaten into submission by her mother, Zohra. There is Firdaus, a beautiful girl of marriageable age, who on her wedding night turns to the wealthy groom selected for her and says, "I'm not going to live with you; don't touch me!" Salma weaves together the stories of Rabia, Zohra, and Firdaus, who all live in a world dominated by men, achingly portraying their rebellions, compromises, friendships, falling apart, and coming back together. In this lyrical and powerful novel, we get an honest-sometimes uplifting, sometimes heartbreaking-account of the lives of Muslim women in rural Tamil Nadu.