The Assassin’s Song

Karsan Dargawalla has always known that he will succeed his father as guardian of a Sufi shrine and an earthly avatar of the thirteenth-century mystic, Pir Bawa—but all he desires is to be “ordinary,” and play first-class cricket. When he goes away to study in the United States, he discovers an exhilarating freedom and rejects his inheritance; his life experiences however ultimately draw him back to his spiritual heritage. He returns to India to find a communally torn Gujarat, a despoiled shrine, and a fugitive brother. With its grand historical sweep and intense personal drama, this superbly crafted novel tells a powerful story of one man’s struggle to balance life and faith.