The Hills Around Me

A great romance and a life with horses form the lynchpins around which Imtiaz Fiona Griffiths’ nostalgic memoir revolves. Coming along for the ride, we have guest appearances by dodgy bookmakers, fast racehorses, slow tortoises, gregarious Jesuits, and a host of other fascinating characters. Griffiths’ story takes us on a journey through pre and post-independence India: from her childhood spent in railway “hill stations”; to adventures in the horse-racing world of Calcutta in the 1950’s and 1960’s; to building her dream racehorse stud farm with her husband Mike in the hills of rural Bihar. A final transition to life in Canada forms the bookend to a joyous and poignant read.