In The Shade Of The Peepal Tree

by Selinder Narwan

INSPIRED BY A TRUE STORYPunjab, 1947. Amidst the chaos of Partition, seventeen-year-old Deepa flees her burning village with her little sister, carrying nothing but terror and hope. Scarred by violence, and haunted by unbearable loss, she must navigate a world where survival comes at the price of silence.

England, 2017. Deepa is eighty-six, her memories fractured by dementia. To her family she is frail, confused, paranoid—yet beneath the surface burns a lifetime of secrets she has never spoken aloud. When her daughter-in-law begins piecing together fragments of her past, the truth of what Deepa endured a story of betrayal and bravery, and ultimately of the human will to survive.

Spanning continents and generations, In the Shade of the Peepal Tree is a powerful tale of survival, memory, and the search for belonging.

What happens when silence is finally broken?

341 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 15, 2026

Reviews

[Gurmukh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful and beautifully written story of a young women caught in the 1947 partition of India through her eyes.
Dealing with generational trauma and dementia.
The novel's fast pace draws you into the urgency and horror of the time.
However, it still manages to captures humour , warmth and the best traits of humanity.

[Amryt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant and devastating. I've never cried more! The violence of partition is very effectively captured through a young girls eyes and we get to see how she carries this through the rest of her life. The burden of her silence is one that weighs heavy.

Fast-paced and wonderfully written. So refreshing to get a partition story focused on women's experiences and struggles. (Not that I'm biased or anything).

[Chique Narwan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emotional read - I did tear up quite a few times. Very important book about a huge historical event we don’t hear much about.