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Here Be Dragons co-curated by Cressida Cowell and Toothless - opens 13 July. Admission included with ticket to the Galleries

1001 Stories Collection

A Beautiful Lie

1001 A Beautiful Lie
Added on 29th July 2020

Author Irfan Master
First published 2011
Publisher Bloomsbury Children’s Books, UK

Family Historical Identity and fairness
1001

The themes of tolerance, love and family are explored in this powerful story set in India at the time of Partition.

Story

Set in 1947, in India, Bilal is look after his father who is dying of cancer. His father hates the idea of India being divided so Bilal tries to hide the truth about the violence beginning to erupt around him.

Why we chose it

A story set at the time of the Partition of India and creation of Pakistan, which shows the impact of Partition on families and friends.

Where it came from

This was Irfan Master’s first novel. He set it in Gujarat where his family are from and before writing it he travelled in India and talked to people about Partition, so that their stories could feed into his writing. When he was younger Master looked for stories about Partition but couldn’t find any. His grandad talked about his experiences of it but Master felt that few young people know about it and he wanted to write something for them.

Where it went next

It was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2011.

Associated stories

Irfan Master’s second book is Out of Heart.

Added on 29th July 2020

Author Irfan Master
First published 2011
Publisher Bloomsbury Children’s Books, UK

Family Historical Identity and fairness
1001