A Moment Comes

Tariq takes part in a violent raid, which is not described in detail but a hit with a bat causes blood to run from the mouth of an unconscious victim. Elsewhere past violence is mentioned but not described in detail, although some of the imagery is powerful (a train full of corpses, for example). Anupreet's the victim of past violence that's never described but continues to haunt her. Injuries from a brutal beating are described in some detail. It's mentioned a couple of times that women and girls sometimes get taken and "used." A bomb explodes outside a home, and an injured leg is described as a "bloody mess." Tariq threatens Sameer with a knife and draws a drop of blood from his throat.

Margaret had a past entanglement and may have had sex, but it's not explicitly stated that she did. Tariq's attracted to both Anupreet and Margaret, and Margaret finds Tariq attractive, all of which is unspoken and conveyed in looks and behavior. Mention is made that in the past men have purchased cyanide to give to daughters whose "virtue is threatened."

Realistic to the 1947 setting, people smoke. Margaret sneaks cigarettes in the garden but knows it's an open secret. Tariq shares a cigarette once with his older brother. Mr. Darnsley smokes a pipe. Mrs. Darnsley's past drinking problem is mentioned, and in one episode she drinks to excess.

Parents need to know that A Moment Comes is a vivid historical novel that puts a heartbreaking, human face on the events surrounding the creation of Pakistan in 1947. It's a violent time when people, mobs especially, commit violent acts in an endless cycle; the violence isn't gory, but the tension of living with it constantly under the surface pervades the atmosphere. There's no sex, although women and girls as a sexual commodity are mentioned, as is the possibility of Margaret's past sexual relationship (we don't know exactly what happened other than that there was a scandal). The 16- and 17-year-old narrators engage in mildly flirtatious behavior. People smoke in a time when the dangerous health consequences were not widely known.