The Wheel of Surya

When Marvinder and Jaspal are still very young, their Sikh father, who is little more than a child himself, leaves the Punjab for university life in England. As war breaks out in Europe, the distance between them seems to grow.

After the war, the children expect their father to return but their hopes are dashed when India’s independence, and division along religious lines, sparks violence and mass murder. Fleeing for their lives, the children find themselves separated from their family. Alone and frightened, they make a momentous decision – they must get to England and find their father.     

Set against a backdrop of imperialism, a world war and the partition of India, Marvinder and Jaspal’s journey is emotional as well as physical. Readers will find themselves living the trauma, rejoicing in the small triumphs and feeling overwhelming gratitude to the many kind people they meet along the way.

The significant historical events have a huge and dramatic impact on the lives of the characters but it is still those lives that keep readers gripped. Personal experiences never take second place to history but it is stories like this one that can help us to understand the real events of the past.