Geetanjali Shree

India

About

Geetanjali Shree is an acclaimed Indian novelist and short-story writer who writes in Hindi. Born in 1957 in Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh, she grew up in a family that moved frequently because her father worked in the Indian administrative service. Her writing explores family relationships, gender, memory, identity and the complexities of Indian society, often combining experimental narrative techniques with playful, lyrical prose. Shree has written five novels and five collections of short stories. Her works include Mai, Our City That Year, The Roof Beneath Their Feet and The Empty Space. She achieved international recognition when Tomb of Sand, translated from Hindi into English by Daisy Rockwell, won the 2022 International Booker Prize—the first book written in an Indian language to receive the award. Her work has been translated into numerous Indian and international languages. She lives in New Delhi, where she continues to contribute to contemporary Hindi literature.

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The Roof Beneath Their Feet

The Roof Beneath Their Feet

In a close-knit residential complex in India, the rooftops of Laburnum House offer a rare refuge from the expectations and restrictions of everyday life. Chachcho, trapped in a lonely marriage, finds companionship in Lalna, a woman abandoned by her husband whom she takes into her home. Their intense and unconventional bond soon becomes the subject of neighbourhood gossip, as their closeness challenges accepted ideas about marriage, female desire and respectability. Years later, following Chachcho’s death, Lalna returns, prompting Chachcho’s nephew, Bitva, to revisit family memories and question the story of his own origins. Moving between perspectives and shifting recollections, Geetanjali Shree creates an intricate portrait of women’s lives, hidden desires and the stories families tell to protect themselves. The rooftop becomes a powerful symbol of freedom—a space where women can escape the watchful eyes of society and imagine lives beyond its boundaries.

Our City That Year

Our City That Year

An Indian city descends into communal violence, and the boundaries between neighbours, friends, and enemies begin to collapse. As religious extremism spreads and fear silences public life, three intellectuals struggle to make sense of the unfolding catastrophe. Shruti, a writer, finds herself unable to put the horrors into words; Hanif, an academic whose secular beliefs isolate him, watches his world shrink; and Sharad confronts the growing distance between himself and his childhood friend. Meanwhile, an unnamed narrator attempts to record what others might prefer to forget. Inspired by the political and social tensions surrounding the destruction of the Babri Mosque in 1992, Our City That Year is a haunting exploration of religious nationalism, fractured communities, and the responsibility of bearing witness when silence becomes complicity.

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