A Deadly World for Brave Women in A Matrimonial Murder by Meeti Shroff-Shah
Rahul Vishnoi reviews A Matrimonial Murder by Meeti Shroff-Shah (published by Bloomsbury India, 2024). The imaginary, affluent township of the ultra-rich Jain community in Mumbai—Temple Hill is rattled by another murder. When did the first one occur? Well, for that, pick up the first novel in the internationally published Temple Hill series: Death of Kirti […]
The Birth Lottery and Other Surprises by Shehan Karunatilaka: A Fertile Soil for Speculation
Rahul Vishnoi reviews The Birth Lottery and Other Surprises by Shehan Karunatilaka (published by Hachette India, 2022). The imaginative ground on which Shehan Karunatilaka’s The Birth Lottery and Other Surprises is based could not be more different from the ground reality of Sri Lanka today. The technological marvels of self-driving cars (with surrounding airbags) and […]
Provincials by Sumana Roy: A Love Letter to All Frogs Who Jumped out of Their Proverbial Wells
Rahul Vishnoi reviews Provincials by Sumana Roy (published by Aleph Book Company, 2024). In the creative industry, print or electronic, there is no dearth of metaphorical love letters to the charm that small towns exude. It is, however, utmost curious that most of the strongest purveyors of such provincial towns come back to bathe in […]
Indian Writing in Translation: How Women Translators Are Changing the Concept of ‘Word’
Language empowers, but it alienates as well. Translators are literary archaeologists who empower the languages and enable the readers. They round off the sharp edges of a foreign language and impart it a ‘home’, bringing it to those who don’t know any other language apart from their own. Translation is one of the most noble […]
The Many Horrors of Pre-Independent Rural Bengal in Shakchunni by Arnab Ray
Rahul Vishnoi reviews Shakchunni by Arnab Ray (published by Hachette India, 2024). Shakchunni by Arnab Ray stands upon a skeleton of greed. The smell of want runs through the story, unifying most of the characters in different pursuits, all of who go down the road of avarice to achieve the deep, dark desires of their […]
The Mine by Arnab Ray Review: A Slow Descent Into Madness
Rahul Vishnoi reviews The Mine by Arnab Ray (published by Hachette India, 2024). First things first. This book needs a disclaimer the length of a curtain hanging in your reading room. The Mine by Arnab Ray is a story that, page after page, tests you. It teases you with violence and inflammatory dialogues. How much […]
Exploring Generational Trauma in Ankush Saikia’s A Natural History of Violence
Priyadarshini Gauri reviews A Natural History of Violence by Ankush Saikia (Independently published, 2024). Ankush Saikia lives in the beautiful city of Shillong, living the idyllic life of writing, working in his mother’s bakery, and walking and photographing the picturesque city. What then, made him take to a life of a crime novelist? Moreover, why […]
Samsara: Enter The Valley of The Gods by Saksham Garg: Is It Really India’s Harry Potter?
Zenith Denis reviews Samsara: Enter the Valley of the Gods by Saksham Garg (published by Penguin in 2022). Tucked within brambles that may,Shielding boughs and keeping at bay;Every dashak centres a blue rose,Scent of which dale invariably knows;Watered, it riots by the nights,Sheeny, eliciting awe from sights;But in the valley fortified by the one that slithers,For […]
Ajay Navaria’s Worlds Within Worlds: A Deep Dive into Modern India’s Caste Dynamics
Stuti Chakrabarty reviews Worlds Within Worlds by Ajay Navaria and translated from Hindi by Nita Kumar (published by Niyogi Books Private Limited, 2024). Worlds Within Worlds, originally titled Udhar ke Log and authored by Ajay Navaria, is a significant work that delves into the intricate dynamics of caste and social hierarchy in modern India. The […]
A Comprehensive List of 112 Women Translators in India
The chasm between the rich and diverse “regional” literature and the mainstream English literature has always been large. Still, the rise in the number of translations in recent years is steadily filling that gap. Simultaneously, there’s been an increase in translation-specific initiatives and awards in the past decade that have further encouraged translators and translations. […]
