Radiya Hafiza moves into YA romantacy with The Silver Kingdom
About Author
The Silver Kingdom is Radiya Hafiza's first move into young adult fantasy, exploring empires, history, and forbidden love. ReadingZone caught up with the author to find out more.
Radiya studied English Language and Literature at King’s College London and worked in publishing for a few years. She has also written the Rumaysa duology and 'Aya and the Star Chaser', and focuses on putting brown characters at the center of her stories.
Radiya lives just outside of London with her family and works in communications.
Twitter: @radiyahafiza and Instagram: @radiyahafiza
Interview
June 2026
Radiya Hafiza introduces her epic YA romantasy, The Silver Kingdom (Simon & Schuster)
With a love story at its heart, The Silver Kingdom is an enticing YA novel that explores big themes of colonialism, justice and morality. It is author Radiya Hafiza's first foray into YA fiction that draws on South Asia - India, Bangladesh and Pakistan - for its fictitious settings.
ReadingZone caught up with Radiya to find out what brought her into writing for YA readers, what inspired her to explore colonialism through her novel, and her fascination with romance.
More about The Silver Kingdom: Sparks fly when Prince Zayd, fresh from defending the borders of Dakaria meets Princess Layla of Sawan, determined to run away from her cruel, power-hungry mother. But the young royals must marry to build alliances, not for love. Read the start of The Silver Kingdom.
Q&A with Radiya Hafiza: Using fantasy to explore colonialism, culture and courage
"I wanted to tell a real story about two young people who go through difficult situations in life
but find a way to honour themselves and what they stand for."
1. Thank you so much for joining us to talk about The Silver Kingdom, your first YA novel. Can you tell us what your first loves were as a reader and how you started as a writer?
Thanks for having me! I grew up reading from a very young age but books by Jacqueline Wilson were my absolute favourite. I would check out all her books from my local library and waited for her new releases with anticipation. My favourite part of the school day was 'golden time' when our teacher would gather us on the carpet and read a book to us. I used to imagine myself as a teacher at home, reading books to an imaginary class at home.
Around the age of eight, I started to realise I really loved not just books but writing too. I began to flourish in my English lessons and had the best time coming up with stories, something I carried through the rest of my educational years. English has always been my favourite subject, and I had very wonderful teachers throughout who would give me extra books to take home and read, as well as championed my writing. I attempted to write my first novel around the age of 13 and I finished a 200 page story. This was the first time I'd finished writing a book and it gave me the confidence to keep going.
2. What has brought you into writing for young adult readers, and what happens in your first YA book, The Silver Kingdom? Did you enjoy writing it?
Writing The Silver Kingdom felt a bit like a homecoming for me - it's a genre I've always loved to read and write in. My previous middle grade books were suited for younger readers, but The Silver Kingdom explores more mature and complex themes that naturally work for an older space.
With middle grade books, you have to be conscious of a shorter word count, making your words accessible for younger readers and appropriate for their understanding. I had so much fun writing The Silver Kingdom as I felt I was able to truly let go and write a bit more freely.
The Silver Kingdom is ultimately an epic love story, set against an anti-colonial political backdrop. The main characters, Prince Zayd and Princess Layla, must marry for alliances, not love, but that plan goes up in flames when their paths cross. It's a story of ancient magic, rival kingdoms and forbidden love.
3. Why did you decide on a dual perspective for the novel, which is told through Princess Layla and Prince Zayd's perspectives? How did you develop your characters so you were sure of their voice, given they are narrating it?
I wanted to do a dual perspective because it lent itself to the story really well. We get to see both sides of the love story, both countries and all the turmoil that happens between. I really enjoy books with dual perspectives because it opens up so much more of the world you're reading in.
It took a bit of work to make their voices distinct, for example making sure they aren't using the same phrases or mannerisms, varying the way they have their inner monologues through sentence structure. There's quite a bit of technicality involved to distinguish the voices of the main leads which I have to credit my editor and copyeditors for helping me with.
5. Can you tell us about the novel's setting and where you have drawn the details of palaces, landscapes and flora from? Is it based on somewhere you know?
The settings of the palaces were inspired by the Mughal period of India, and then I used my own trips to Bangladesh as a child to flesh out the landscape and flora. I did a bit of research into what these countries looked like, the kind of flowers and plants that grow there, as well as national dishes and so on. I had several pinterest boards that I used to help me visualise different aspects of the stories, from outfits and places to the landscapes of each country.
6. You explore colonialism and colonisation through the countries' histories and the characters' experiences in the novel. Why did you want to make this a strong theme, and particularly to share it from the perspective of colonised peoples? Are you basing it on a specific place?
I think it's hard not to speak of colonialism when it doesn't really feel over. The countries in my book are based on specific places: Dakaria is similar to Bangladesh, Sawan is similar to Pakistan and Valthar is similar to India.
As my own background is Bengali, I focus more on Dakaria and it's relationship with Sawan in the book, which was loosely based on Bangladesh's liberation war from Pakistan. Even though the British eventually left India, they stole over $45 trillion dollars from the region which set the countries back massively in terms of their own development which affects them even today. Events like the Bengal famine where millions were starved to death, caused by British policy in 1943, contributed to a genetic predisposition that makes the South Asian population more susceptible to diabetes until now.
We are still living with colonialism today and it's long term effects - only now it's called 'Western intervention' and 'liberation' at the expense of indigenous populations around the world.
7. Why did you want to explore this subject through a fantasy novel, with magic and mages?
I actually got the inspiration of this story from my dad. I was talking with my parents one day during South Asian History month and I wanted to hear more of their experiences after partition. My mum was born after the war but my dad told me about his experiences during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 and how his family had to flee from the Pakistani army, the bombers he saw circling in the sky, the communities and people's livelihoods destroyed.
I wanted to commemorate this part of our family history somehow, and that was how I got the inspiration of the settings for The Silver Kingdom. Fantasy gave me a way to explore colonial impact on South Asia but at a distance, so I wasn't entirely in it and it felt less personal. These are heavy topics and I've always wanted to explore these themes of racism, colourism and colonialism in my stories but I used to find it quite hard in a contemporary story as it just felt too real. Fantasy and magic give me a safer way to explore these difficult subjects without having to relive it.
8. What other kinds of themes do you explore in The Silver Kingdom, and - other than a great adventure story - what would you like your readers to take from the novel?
There are many different themes in The Silver Kingdom, duty vs love, family, loyalty, narcissism from Layla's mother, Sultana Zahra. I wanted to tell a real story about two young people who go through difficult situations in life but find a way to honour themselves and what they stand for. I think as young heirs, Layla and Zayd have the weight of the world on their shoulders and desperately want to do the right thing by everyone else. But sometimes prioritising yourself is the most bravest thing you can do.
If readers take anything from this novel, I hope that it's being brave and standing up for yourself amidst cruelty is heroic, following your heart is honourable and that life should be lived, not just survived.
9. Will you be returning to the world of The Silver Kingdom, and writing more YA? What are you writing currently?
Yes! I am currently working on the sequel to The Silver Kingdom, which is very different from the first book. The Silver Kingdom was very much about establishing the world and characters but in book two, I get to delve deeper into the magic, the politics and the relationships in the story which has been so much fun.
I love writing sequels as well because you already know the set up and the characters well, so it feels like a continuation rather than a brand new book.
10. At its heart, The Silver Kingdom is a wonderful love story. Are these the kinds of stories you enjoy reading or watching? How do you relax when you're away from your desk, and where find inspiration for more stories?
Romance stories are my absolute favourite thing to read and always have been! I think it's a genre that stands the test of time because people love to read about love and watch it, too. There are times when I may be reading other genres but romances have always been my go to.
As I am a mum, relaxation happens in snippets so it's usually reading a book at night or watching a show before I knock out to sleep.
I tend to get my inspiration from all over - it could be strangers walking down the street and I imagine their story, it could be a snippet of a conversation I hear and start building out, it could be something I read or watched and wanted to put my own spin on.
School Visits by Radiay Hafiza: My events range from readings and Q&A sessions to workshops where I help students write their own stories. You can get in touch with me about school events via my contact page on my website. Contact - Radiya Hafiza
The Silver Kingdom
