New books on the shelves

A gripping historical drama set in colonial India, a diplomat’s eye-view of India-Pakistan ties, and much more.

Where God Began

Appadurai Muttulingam, translated by Kavitha Muralidharan

Eka

Rs. 499

Blurbed as “a blistering account of a young man in exile against the backdrop of the Sri Lankan civil war”, this novel explores the harsh realities of the lives of illegal immigrants as they are traded from one agent to another, smuggled across or sent back from borders, in their quest to find a new home abroad.

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Silk and Steel

Stephen Alter

Aleph Book Company

Rs. 499

In colonial India, James Webley and Colonel Augustine reject mercenary service to become bandits. Augustine tries to find a way of maintaining their cornered brigand army against British forces while reviving Webley’s flagging spirits with the help of the fascinating Khasturba. A gripping historical drama with an exciting climax.

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The Kidnapping of Mark Twain: A Bombay Mystery

Anuradha Kumar

Speaking Tiger

Rs.499

Set in Bombay in 1896, this mystery has all the ingredients of a potboiler—Mark Twain’s fictional disappearance, a free-spirited Anglo-Indian woman detective, the opium trade, a preacher, a magician, a thief, and a powerful labour leader. The period details and the cameos make it a page-turner with a difference.

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The Demolition, the Verdict and the Temple: The Definitive Book on the Ram Mandir Project

Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay

Speaking Tiger

Rs.699

In an earlier edition of this book, Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay looked at the key moments in the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation, from 1885 onwards, through the events of 1949, Rajiv Gandhi’s “unlocking of the gates” in 1986, L.K. Advani’s Rath Yatra in 1990 and the demolition of the masjid in 1992. Here he deliberates whether the opening of the Ram Mandir, just months prior to the 18th Lok Sabha elections, will really be the “Epilogue”—or a new chapter in the Ayodhya saga.

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Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship between India and Pakistan

Ajay Bisaria

Aleph Book Company

Rs.999

On 7 August 2019, High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria was expelled from Islamabad, the first time an Indian head of mission had been asked to leave by Pakistan. In this book, Bisaria tells the fractious history of India-Pakistan bilateral ties from his unique vantage as diplomat.

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Inky Parade: Tales for bibliophiles

Pradeep Sebastian

Hachette India

Rs.799

Meet the biryani chef guarding a prized Ottoman manuscript, track the mysterious “Book Prince” of Kolkata, discover how a rare 1865 edition of Alice in Wonderland surfaced in an Indian bazaar, and much more in Pradeep Sebastian’s charming ode to the antiquarian book trade.

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Fiction

The Maniac

Benjamin Labatut

Penguin Press

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The Meiji Guillotine Murders 

Futaro Yamada 

Pushkin Vertigo 

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Mild Vertigo 

Mieko Kanai, translated by Polly Barton 

Fitzcarraldo Editions 

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Strangers in Light Coats: Selected Poems, 2014–2020

Ghassan Zaqtan, translated by Robin Moger 

Seagull Books

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Non-fiction

A Map of Future Ruins: On Borders and Belonging

Lauren Markham

Riverhead

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Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto

Kohei Saito, translated by Brian Bergstrom

Astra Publishing House

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Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time

Sheila Liming

Melville House

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Twinkind: The Singular Significance of Twins

William Viney

Princeton University Press