Nemat Sadat’s debut novel is an ode to beauty and hope, even in dark times | Lifestyle News, The Indian Express

Nemat Sadat’s debut novel is an ode to beauty and hope, even in dark times | Lifestyle News, The Indian Express

Written by Ram Sarangan |Updated: July 20, 2019 11:00:55 am

Nemat Sadat’s debut novel is an ode to beauty and hope, even in dark times

The novel’s dedication to portraying the fragility of life is evident in its complexities. Most happy moments are bittersweet, no emotion is fully evident, no motive is completely understandable.

The book is set in the 1970s and ’80s in Afghanistan, a particularly tumultuous period for the restive country. (Source: Amazon.in)

There is a part of Nemat Sadat’s The Carpet Weaver which talks about Rabia Balkhi, an Afghan poet-princess who was executed for writing odes to her beloved, a castle servant. What the book’s protagonist, Kanishka, says about Rabia’s story comes close to capturing the essence of Sadat’s work — “How courageous she was to defiantly love whom she pleased, defend her art and live her existence fully until its tragic end.”