Fence

Ila Arab Mehta is an award-winning Gujarati author, perhaps most noted for her explorations of feminist thinking. In this new translation by Rita Kothari of her beautiful and skillfully crafted novel Fence, we meet Fateema Lokhandwala, a young Muslim woman in present-day Gujarat. Fateema lives in a divided world, where religion and class split society. A member of the Muslim minority, she struggles to carve out a place for herself, seeking her true identity, and encountering triumph and tragedy along the way. Fence is a powerful critique of the damage caused by Indian identity politics. It is also a classic coming-of-age story and a lively, yet tender, exploration by Mehta, a Hindu writer, of the dreams and aspirations of her Muslim sisters.