Uncertain Light

Uncertain Light book coverShortlisted for 2 international prizes – Indie Book Award, 2016, Rubery Book Award, 2017

High in the mountains of war-torn Tajikistan, rebels abduct inspirational UN peace negotiator, Rahul Khan. The lives of his closest friends begin to unravel.

Tessa, now married with two children, has never stopped loving Rahul. Lance, a dedicated aid worker, has used Rahul’s friendship to avoid facing up to the gaps in his own life. Hugo, his UN supervisor, feels responsible for the abduction and is driven to uncover the truth. Tajik translator Nargis owes Rahul a personal debt but has secrets she cannot share. As hopes for Rahul’s survival fade, each must find a way to begin again.


‘A moving and necessary book – with characters who will remain with me for a very long time.’ Alastair Niven Judge of the 2014 Man Booker Prize

‘A terrifically absorbing, topical and quietly affecting novel of interlocking worlds and relationships. Commonwealth Writers’ Prize winner and former aid worker Molteno takes inspiration from a life lived across cultures. ‘ The Bookseller

‘A tender love story, set among the ruins of war and hopelessness. Molteno spins her new work of fiction around an actual hostage-taking, and weaves a fictional story of courage and survival, and much more.’ Financial Express, Calcutta

‘A rare novel, enthralling and compassionate. Brilliantly portraying the Central Asian republics in a period of despotism and anarchy, Molteno weaves together lives linked and irrevocably altered by one extraordinary Indian humanitarian worker.’ Gillian Wright

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Indi book award finalist logo

To order: any bookshop in the UK: published by Advance Editions
ISBN 9 780955 437304
£10.99, distributed by Central Books
In South Asia: Speaking Tiger Books
Internationally: Free delivery world-wide from The Book Depository
Available in e-book on the following platforms
Kindle
Apple Books
Kobo
Nook

Interviews with the author:
Zafar Anjum, Kitaab, Journal of Asian literature, 30 Apr 2016, http://bit.ly/1SArd8A
Ed Lemon, Perspectives on Central Asia, 7 May 2015, http://bit.ly/2a38s0v

1 thought on “Uncertain Light

  1. I just finished Uncertain Light and was moved by the story. The characters were like old friends and though I liked the ending I was sad to leave them. It is an unfinished story as so many lives are touched by NGO workers in our splintered world. I have always wondered what it is like for those people who live and work in such dangerous and difficult places. How hard it must be to have normal lives with families of their own.

    Brenda Aronowitz sent me this book, a good friend from our California days. She worked with my husband at the York school in Monterey. I am grateful that she passed on your novel.

    All the best,

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