Shy twelve-year-old Nisha, forced to flee her home with her Hindu family during the 1947 partition of India, tries to find her voice and make sense of the world falling apart around her by writing to her deceased Muslim mother in the pages of her diary.

On a January morning in 1938, Samir Vij first locks eyes with Firdaus Khan through the rows of perfume bottles in his family's ittar shop in Lahore. Over the years that follow, the perfumer's apprentice and calligrapher's apprentice fall in love with their ancient crafts and with each other, dreaming of the life they will one day share. But as the struggle for Indian independence gathers force, their beloved city is ravaged by Partition. Suddenly,...

India, 1947. In a village in Bengal live three sisters, daughters of a well-respected doctor. Priya: intelligent and idealistic, resolved to follow in her father's footsteps and become a doctor though society frowns on it. Deepa: the beauty, determined to make a marriage that will bring her family joy and status. Jamini: devout, sharp-eyed, and a talented quiltmaker, with deeper passions than she reveals. Theirs is a home of love and safety, a refuge...

It's 1947 and British colonial rule in India is coming to an end. Lord Mountbatten moves with his wife Edwina and daughter for six months into the Viceroy's House in Delhi. As the last viceroy it's his task to oversee the country's transition to independence. Soon, violence erupts between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, which also affects the 500 staff working at the viceroy's palace. The love between Jeet, a young Hindu servant, and Aalia, a Muslim woman...