The rebellion of 1857 was filled with atrocities committed on both sides, and caused a devastating setback to India. When the Indian rebels were subdued, the rule of India passed from the Company to the Crown, marking the beginning of the British Raj.
In Chainbreaker, I only begin to scratch the surface of the Raj. There are many details and historical examples that I wish I could have included, but had to put aside for the sake of space and context. It was an uneasy time for everyone involved, as the British attitudes toward the Indian people had soured even further. Indian soldiers were given the worst provisions, the worst weapons, and the worst accommodations. It didn’t help that those who were officially in control of India—Queen Victoria and Viceroy Lytton—did barely anything to improve the quality of life or society.
Here is where I deviated from history a bit: in Chainbreaker, I’ve built on the likelihood that there were still rebels trying to rouse the country into a second rebellion. In our timeline, this did not happen.
Here’s what really happened:
Before World War I, there was a growing nationalist movement in India, and the aftermath of the war only made that movement stronger. The high casualty rates, sickness, and interruption of trade were a harsh blow for India, and different factions unified in their desire for independence. This led to the Government of India Act in 1919, which stated that both Indian and British legislators held power over India, requiring them to make important administrative decisions together.
In 1915, Mohandas Gandhi returned to India from South Africa, where he had been perfecting his methods of nonviolent protest to free Indian political prisoners. Although new revolutionary movements began cropping up at the beginning of the twentieth century, Gandhi’s nonviolent movement slowly overtook these revolutionary groups. He called upon thousands of Indian people to leave their jobs and take up the protest with him, which, granted Gandhi’s immense popularity as he became more known throughout the years, was followed by many.
In 1947, the Indian Independence Act was signed, which not only partitioned Pakistan from India, but made them both self-run, democratic nations. This resulted in even further bloodshed, as the animosities between Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims escalated to alarming, fatal levels as the British hurried to enact the partition. After a long, difficult, and violent struggle, British rule was finally ended in India.
India has a history that runs deep and rich, and I can only hope I did it justice in this book. Being half-Indian and growing up between cultures, I wanted to explore where exactly that line met, not merely in the characters’ interactions with one another, but within the country itself. It’s not only a reflection of history, but a reflection on culture, diaspora, and resistance in the face of oppression.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It has been A Year, and I’m amazed that this book still came out at the end of it. I had no idea when I wrote the first draft of Chainbreaker in 2014 that I would be publishing it during a time like this.
But here we are, and I’m so grateful that I could continue Danny and Colton’s story while exploring more of my own history and converting it into something that I hope readers can relate to.
Of course, I have several people to thank for this, and for guiding me throughout this process:
First, all of the love to my editor Alison Weiss, who understood this story from day one and has been one of my biggest advocates. Thank you for all of your time (har) and attention, for answering the questions I send you late at night, and putting up with my stubborn grammatical habits. Thank you to the Sky Pony team, including Ming Liu, Leslie Davis, Joshua Barnaby, and Sammy Yuen for that amazing cover. Thanks also to William McAusland for the fantastic India map.
For her dedication and compassion, many thanks to my agent, Laura Crockett, and the whole Triada team. Thank you guys for all the support as I bumble my way through this whole “being an author” thing.
Thank you to Forever Young Audiobooks/Pamela Lorence for acquiring these silly clock books, and to Gary Furlong for bringing my characters to life.
To my writing family—Traci Chee, Jessica Cluess, Emily Skrutskie—thank you for letting me yell in your DMs and crash on your couches. You’re all so amazingly talented, and I’m lucky to consider myself your friend and critique partner. Traci, thank you for making weird faces with me. Jessie, why are we the same person? Emily, keep sending me stupid memes and headcanons. (Another special shout out to Cole Benton for being just A Really Cool Guy.)
I need to give a shout out to the wonderful people in the Kidlit Authors of Color, Fight Me Club, and PW ’14 groups. You are all amazing.
Thanks to Akshaya Raman for being my desi/writing/whining buddy, and for baking me a cake and reading a draft of this book. I owe you brunch. Thanks also to Shveta Thakrar for reading and providing notes, and for checking in on me now and then. You’re a star. Thank you to Preeti Chhibber (and her mom) for double-checking my Hindi/Urdu. All mistakes are mine.
I would be amiss to not thank my two favorite booksellers, Allison Seneca and Nicole Brinkley. You folks keep doing what you’re doing. Thank you for screaming with me and sending me books. (Allison, meet me in Vegas.) Also, thank you to the lovely people at Kepler’s Books.
Huge thanks to the people who have given me joy this year: Tori Ryan (for all of the amazing Timekeeper fan art), Lola Baldsing (also for the fan art, especially the corgi fan art), Grace Fong (for being a stan with me), Wendy Xu (for the hot birbs), Eric Smith (for all the cheerleading), K. Kazul Wolf (FFXV broke me), Victoria Schwab (for being an A+ role model), and E.K. Johnston (for the lovely Canada retreat).
To the book bloggers/vloggers/reviewers: you folks do important work. Thank you for all you do.
To my readers in general: where would I be without you? Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for supporting me. All the fan art, beautiful edits, quote graphics, Tweets, and emails mean so much. I can only hope to continue writing stories for you all. (Also, sorry about that cliffhanger.) (Not really.)
Thank you to my family for all their support and love. Thank you to Ellen Gavazza, who might as well be family, for always being there.
Most of the thanks, of course, go to my mother Harjit Sim, who patiently lets me do my work (“What, you’re not done yet?”) and indulges me even when I’m in a bad mood. This book wouldn’t have existed if a little girl hadn’t emigrated from India to America to begin a new life. Love you, Mama.
And to my father, Steve Sim: this book wouldn’t have existed without you either. If you hadn’t read to me when I was young, if you hadn’t instilled a love of the written word in me, I wouldn’t be where I am now. But you always believed I would get here. I’m so thankful for all you did for me, and that I got to see you hold Timekeeper in your hands. I’m sorry you won’t be able to hold this one. The last time I saw you, I showed you the cover for Chainbreaker, and you smiled. That’s what I think of when I look at this book, and for that, I’m grateful.
I love you. I miss you.