A Silent Life

As a child growing up in a Guyanese country town, Aleyah Hassan dreams of dancing barefoot across the blank canvas of the sky, making her mark to save it from emptiness. But darker visions begin when she realizes that some mystery surrounds her beloved grandmother who, except for praying incessantly, spends her days in silence. When Aleyah finally prises a version of the secret from her mother, she learns that her grandmother once had a great deal to say, that Nani had been, as a younger woman, inspired by the call of revolutionary politics. Then, before Aleyah's dreaming eyes, the tragedy of Nani and Aleyah's late grandfather, Papa Nazeer, plays itself out to its horrifying conclusion. As Aleyah grows up academically gifted and with the desire to change the world, her family is both proud and concerned, particularly by her and Nani's mutual attraction. And when later, after winning a scholarship to England, Aleyah marries a charming fellow Guyanese, Nani is struck with terror that family history will repeat itself.