The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali

Winner of the 2023 Massachusetts Book Award, The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali weaves fictional narrative with real historical events, set against the backdrop of the Andaman Islands reeling from the effects of war.

Local Borns Nomi & Zee – find themselves alone after their parents are shipped away. The Andaman Islands, while beautiful, are an inhospitable place. Together with their friend Aye, the pet hen Priya, and the distracted love of their parents, the siblings make it through from one day to the next. Meanwhile, within the walls of the prison, war wages on between prisoners and their jailers.

When war descends upon this overlooked outpost of the Empire, the British are forced out and the Japanese move in.It’s not long before the first shot is fired, forcing Zee to flee, leaving Nomi and the other islanders to contend with a new malice. The islands—and the seas surrounding them—become a battlefield, resulting in tragedy for some and a brittle kind of freedom for others. 

Uzma Aslam Khan writes of people caught in the vortex of history, powerless in many ways, yet unveils their own bravery, empathy, and endurance. "Khan's suspenseful, thought-provoking narrative is a challenge to simple assumptions about enemies and friends, loyalty and betrayal," (The New York Times) The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali, is an unflinching and lyrical page-turner, an epic telling of a largely forgotten chapter in the history of the subcontinent.