Maria, Just Maria
Sandhya Mary, translated by Jayasree Kalathil
Harper Perennial India
Rs.499
After the death of her grandfather, Maria stops speaking because she no longer wants to, and so is sent to a psychiatric hospital to “reconnect with reality”. This humorous novel is a poignant exploration of mental illness and what defines sanity in contemporary society.
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Lorenzo Searches for the Meaning of Life
Upamanyu Chatterjee
Speaking Tiger
Rs.699
Upamanyu Chatterjee’s latest novel, blurbed as a “study of both the majesty and the banality of the spiritual path”, has all the characteristic features of his works—a loner and misfit who finds himself in a place he hardly understands; pain explored through black humour; and a flicker of redemption.
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Eden Abandoned: The Story of Lilith
Shinie Antony
Hachette India
Rs.499
In this reworking of the Biblical story, Lilith is the arch rebel rather than the arch temptress. Wronged by Adam, she roams the earth, learns the dark arts, and fights the system. She forges her identity beyond Eden, Adam, and God.
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Memories in the Service of the Hindu Nation: The Afterlife of the Partition of India
Pranav Kohli
Cambridge University Press
Rs.1,295
“What does it mean to remember the Partition in the time of fascism?” This is the question at the heart of this book, which shows how tragedy begets tragedy, and analyses how the hegemony of Hindu nationalism has structured the narratives of Hindu Partition survivors.
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Sex and Religion: Teachings and Taboos in the History of World Faiths
Dag Øistein Endsjø
Speaking Tiger
Rs.499
A fascinating investigation into the rules, rituals, and taboos which have sought to celebrate, repress, and codify sex in religions across the world, from Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
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Empires of the Sea: A Human History of the Indian Ocean World
Radhika Seshan
Pan Macmillan
Rs.550
Placing the Indian Ocean at the heart of human history, this book explores the rich tapestry of India’s past through its maritime relations—from the Chola, Chalukya and Vijayanagar empires to the advent of colonialism.
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Fiction
The Marriage Artist
Andrew Winer
Picador
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Stoner
John Williams
Vintage Classics
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The Art Forger
B.A. Shapiro
Algonquin Books
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The Vulnerables
Sigrid Nunez
Riverhead Books
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Non-fiction
The Political Outsider: Indian Democracy and the Lineages of Populism
Srirupa Roy
Stanford University Press
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My Brother, My Land: A Story from Palestine
Sami Hermez with Sireen Sawalha
Redwood Press
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Experimental Translation: The Work of Translation in the Age of Algorithmic Production
Lily Robert-Foley
Goldsmiths Press
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Countering Dispossession, Reclaiming Land: A Social Movement Ethnography
David E. Gilbert
University of California Press
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