BOOK CLUB + AUTHOR Q&A: The Whispering Jacarandas by Zahirra Dayal

​The Whispering Jacarandas by Zahirra Dayal

​Join us for an evening with The Whispering Jacarandas, the haunting debut novel from Zahirra Dayal. We’ll start with a book club discussion led by Maariyah Qureshi, followed by an intimate Q&A with Zahirra herself.

​About the book
Zimbabwe, in the years just after independence. In the leafy suburb of Belvedere, sisters Zaynah and Amira grow up wrapped in the warmth of a close-knit Indian community, until a single night of violence ends their childhood and opens a silence between them that neither knows how to break. As they grow up, one turns inward and keeps her secrets close, while the other runs towards rebellion. Set against political upheaval and rising racial tension, it’s a story about trauma, identity and the fragile, unbreakable bond between sisters, told through a chapter of African history rarely put on the page.

​About the author
Zahirra Dayal was born in Zimbabwe and now lives in London, where she lectures at a university. The novel was inspired by her own family history: her grandparents were among the Passenger Indians who migrated from Gujarat to what was then Southern Rhodesia.

​The evening
6:00 – 7:00pm · Book club discussion, led by Maariyah Qureshi
7:00 – 8:00pm · Author Q&A with Zahirra Dayal

​We generally operate a no refunds policy.