Urdu novel Naulakhi Kothi's English translation hits the stands

 The English translation of noted Pakistani poet-novelist Ali Akbar Natiq's epic saga, "Naulakhi Kothi", has hit the bookshelves, Penguin Random House India (PRHI) announced on Tuesday.

Touted to be an insightful portrayal of the zeitgeist of the times, the book, translated from Urdu by Naima Rashid, is a sweeping narrative which begins in the years leading up to the Partition and goes on till the 1980s.

"'Naulakhi Kothi' takes us to the pre-Partition Punjab and brings us face to face with the lived culture of this place. The day of ordinary people going about their business comes alive before us... The translator is, ultimately, a cartographer, making somewhere out of nowhere. There is both risk and reward here.

"I hope this work will give you a taste of both," writes Rashid in the book.

The story revolves around William who returns to Hindustan after eight long years in England as the newly appointed assistant commissioner of Jalalabad in pre-Partition Punjab.

"He dreams of returning to his 'home' in the idyllic Naulakhi Kothi, the titular bungalow built by his grandfather, but an irreversible turn of events awaits him, which changes not only his destiny, but that of the land forever," reads the description of the book.

Natiq, widely considered among the foremost voices writing in Urdu today, is the author of 15 books. His work has been translated into English, Hindi and German, and featured in New York Times and Granta.

His collection of short stories, "Qaim Din", was awarded the UBL-Jang Literary Excellence Award in 2013.

"Naulakhi Kothi", priced at Rs 599, is currently available for purchase across online and offline stores.