HYDERABAD - THE OLD CITY

Hyderabad - my first stop in India.This is where The Moon's Complexion began...

'Market stallholders held up yard-long gourds or plump melons and stood to attention...'

'People called from shed-like shop entrances. ‘Photo, here please! Photo!’ '


'...shops selling colourful lac-bangles, wares spilling out onto the streets. '

The Charminar - 'an ancient Islamic arch that stood in the centre in a state of splendid decay.'

'There reigned beneath the bustle of frenetic activity, and the clamour of competing motor horns, an undercurrent of self-assurance and control.'

'She stopped by a pair of giggling girls in bright saris, who sat on the pavement weaving garlands of jasmine and marigolds.'

Photos and Text © Irene Black

HYDERABAD

Hyderabad was my first stop in India.

Market stallholders held up yard-long gourds or plump melons and stood to attention.

People called from shed-like shop entrances. ‘Photo, here please! Photo!’

Shops selling colourful lac-bangles, wares spilling out onto the streets.

The Charminar, an ancient Islamic arch that stood in the centre in a state of splendid decay.

IMPORTANT - READ BEFORE OPENING THE NEXT FILE

Hi, I’m Hannah, one of the characters in Irene Black’s novel, The Moon’s Complexion. Most of the action takes place in India and in Sri Lanka, and I thought you might like to see some of the locations I snapped in my role as a photojournalist, accompanied by some quotes from the book. Of course I have not included anything that might give away any parts of the plot.

However, before you turn to the first file (Hyderabad), please consider very carefully whether you really want to do this. Have you read the book? If so, are you sure you don’t want it to stay in the world of your imagination? Or are you strong enough to be able to weather this without letting it take over?

If you haven’t read the book and would like to read it first, you can purchase it from http://www.goldenford.co.uk/ , or from http://www.ireneblack.co.uk/ or from http://www.amazon.co.uk/ or as an eBook from http://www.virtualtales.com/ You can also read Irene's blog on http://www.thisthatfromireneblack.blogspot.com/

The Moon’s Complexion is now in its third edition with a smart new cover.

If you’re the sort of person, who doesn’t mind watching the film before buying the book, you’ll be fine looking at the photos before you read it.

Do keep revisiting each file as I might add other photos as I find them again. It’s been a long time…

I’ll build up the files over several weeks. Hyderabad is the first, simply because it was my first stop in India. Even now, the memory of what happened there sends a few shudders down the old spine.

Photos and Text © Irene Black

Coming soon!