The Road Up North

Manal Gafoor

Her husband’s phone being unreachable had never bothered Merin; she knew he was always travelling around crazy places for work. But when the silence and inactivity on his bank accounts stretch to two weeks, she seeks out the wives of his old, estranged friends a conversation she’s not looking forward to and finds out that those guys have also been missing for two weeks, leaving behind the same silence that all of Merin’s hacking skills couldn’t break through. Concerned, but also intrigued, she gathers the other women and embarks on a cross-country quest to bring their husbands home-a trip of clashing egos, unexpected revelations, and deep, personal healing. Drawn from a sketch of her own journey of healing, Manal Gafoor’s The Road up North takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster across South India, weaving together themes of travel and friendship, while underlining the transformative power they bring to the human spirit.