WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY? A NOVEL

DeScriPtionWhen Mihika, 56 and a widow, gets drawn into a relationship with Zuhayr, a60-year-old divorcee who was her late husbandAditya’s friend, it doesn’t seem toher like an event that should cause more than a raised eyebrow or two. Not in thetwenty-first century, and not when their grown-up children are happy that theirparents have found a second chance at happiness.But inTinigaon—a small town inAssam—it is just not done for a woman ofMihika’s age to have a romantic relationship—that, too, with a man from theOther a Muslim.Tinigaon’s Old Guard is scandalized as Mihika andZuhayr are seen together in restaurants and cinema halls,‘flaunting’ their affair.And a nosy neighbour, Ranjana, keeps the moral brigade busy with juicy details ofZuhayr’s late-night comings and goings from Mihika’s house.Mihika decides to ignore the gossipmongering and slander and remain true to herrelationship with Zuhayr, who has filled a void in her life afterAditya’s death fiveyears ago.As long as her four closest friends,Tara,Triveni, Shagufta and Pallavi,stand by her, she doesn’t care if others turn away. But when the gossip turnsinto something more sinister that could threaten her daughterVeda’s happiness,Mihika is forced to take a call—should she give up the man she loves for herdaughter’s sake, or is there an alternative that could give them both what theywant?Writing with great sensitivity and gentle humour, Mitra Phukan proves onceagain that she is an extraordinary chronicler of the human heart. Rooted, like allher fiction, in the culture and sensibilities ofAssam, What Will People Say? speaksto all of us, wherever we are, whoever we are.