Books from India

In Acrobat, Nabaneeta Dev Sen transforms the experiences of an ordinary life into an intimate, unflinching exploration of womanhood, love, motherhood, and mortality. This posthumously published poetry collection moves between the exhilaration of first love, the physical and emotional demands of childbirth, the complexities of family relationships, and the inevitable approach of old age. With a voice that can be tender one moment and fiercely rebellious the next, Dev Sen examines the expectations imposed on women and the quiet acts of resistance through which they reclaim their lives. The acrobat becomes a powerful image for the precarious balancing act of being human: navigating intimacy, pain, desire, and loss while attempting to remain upright. Both compassionate and unsparing, these poems celebrate the body and its vulnerabilities, revealing the extraordinary intensity hidden within everyday existence. Translated from Bengali by the author’s daughter, Nandana Dev Sen, the collection also becomes a moving literary dialogue between mother and daughter.

Set in Jaipur in 1969, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur follows Malik, a young man who returns to the city where he grew up to begin an apprenticeship at the royal palace. Under the guidance of Lakshmi, the former henna artist who has become a respected figure in the community, Malik hopes to build a promising future. His work brings him into contact with the wealthy and influential people overseeing the construction of a modern cinema. When the cinema’s balcony collapses on opening night, the resulting tragedy exposes corruption, concealed interests, and the unequal distribution of power. Suspecting that the disaster was not simply an accident, Malik begins investigating the truth, putting himself at risk as he challenges those determined to protect their reputations. Joshi examines social inequality, ambition, and the influence of wealth and privilege in a rapidly changing India.

Indian American journalist Smita returns to India to report on a disturbing case involving Meena, a Hindu woman who has been brutally attacked by her own family for marrying Abdul, a Muslim man. As Smita investigates the violence committed in the name of family honour, she encounters a society where religious divisions, patriarchal traditions, and social expectations can override individual freedom. While trying to help Meena, Smita also confronts painful memories of her own past and develops an unexpected connection with Mohan, an Indian man whose presence challenges her carefully constructed emotional distance. Through the intersecting lives of these women, Thrity Umrigar explores the cost of defying tradition, the meaning of belonging, and the courage required to live according to one’s convictions. Honor is a moving novel about love, religious intolerance, and the struggle for women’s autonomy in a deeply divided society.

Kaikeyi reimagines the story of a controversial queen from the ancient Indian epic Ramayana, giving voice to a woman traditionally remembered as the villain responsible for Rama’s exile. Growing up as the only daughter of a king, Kaikeyi questions the restrictions placed upon women and longs to shape her own destiny. After discovering a mysterious power that allows her to influence the minds of others, she begins to challenge the patriarchal structures governing her world. Her marriage to King Dasharatha brings her into the centre of royal politics, where her ambitions and relationships become increasingly complicated. As she navigates motherhood, power, and loyalty, Kaikeyi must make decisions that will transform her family and the kingdom. Patel explores female agency, ambition, and the tension between personal freedom and social expectations, offering a nuanced portrait of a woman whose story has long been told by others.

Set in Lahore during the final years of British rule in India, The Book of Everlasting Things tells the story of Samir Vij, a Hindu perfumer, and Firdaus Khan, a Muslim calligrapher. Their shared appreciation for beauty, craftsmanship, and traditional arts develops into a deep love as they imagine a future together. However, the Partition of India in 1947 transforms their world, dividing communities and forcing them onto opposite sides of a newly created border. Samir becomes an Indian citizen, while Firdaus becomes Pakistani, making their relationship increasingly difficult to sustain. Spanning decades and continents, the novel explores the ways political upheaval reshapes private lives and cultural traditions. Through the evocative worlds of perfume-making and calligraphy, Malhotra examines love, memory, belonging, and the enduring power of art to preserve what history threatens to destroy.

In 1898, thirteen-year-old Pirbhai leaves his village in India, lured by the promise of work in East Africa. Instead, he is forced into labour on the British railway, where a desperate act committed in the name of survival becomes a secret that will haunt his descendants for generations. Years later, Pirbhai builds a family with Sonal in Uganda. Their children and grandchildren grow up amid the final years of British colonial rule, the country’s struggle for independence, and the political turmoil that follows. Among the next generation are three sisters, each with her own ambitions and understanding of what it means to belong. When Idi Amin orders Uganda’s Asian population to leave in 1972, the family is scattered across continents, carrying with them the memories, silences, and secrets of their past. Spanning more than a century and moving between India, East Africa, and Canada, A History of Burning traces how one act of survival reverberates through generations. Janika Oza weaves together colonial exploitation, political upheaval, family loyalty, and the search for home in an intimate multigenerational saga about the stories families preserve—and those they struggle to forget.

Remy Wadia returns to Bombay from his home in America after learning that his elderly mother has fallen seriously ill. Estranged from his parents for years, he arrives with complicated feelings about his childhood, his family’s secrets, and the emotional distance that has defined their relationship. His mother survives, but the visit forces Remy to confront painful memories and reconsider the stories he has told himself about his past. As he reconnects with his family and the city he once called home, he begins uncovering truths that challenge his understanding of his parents and himself. Set against the vibrant, contradictory landscape of contemporary Mumbai, The Museum of Failures explores immigration, cultural identity, parental love, and the possibility of forgiveness. Through Remy’s journey, Umrigar asks whether understanding the people who have hurt us can help us make peace with the past and find a way forward.

The Perfumist of Paris follows Radha, the younger sister introduced in The Henna Artist, as she builds a career in the world of perfumery in 1970s Paris. Having developed her talent for creating fragrances, Radha works to establish herself professionally while navigating marriage, motherhood, and the expectations placed upon her as an Indian woman living abroad. Her ambition to become an accomplished perfumer requires her to make difficult choices about the balance between her professional aspirations and her responsibilities to her family. As she encounters new opportunities and challenges, Radha must confront questions about independence, belonging, and the kind of future she wants to create. Joshi explores the relationship between creativity and self-expression, using the evocative world of perfume to examine memory, cultural heritage, and the complex process of developing an identity that embraces both personal ambition and family ties.

Madras, India, 1974. Seventeen-year-old Savi has grown up in St Ursula’s convent, where orphaned girls are expected to become nuns or domestic servants. Intelligent and gifted with languages, she dreams of a different future. When she becomes a governess for the wealthy Nandiyar family, she encounters a world of privilege and possibility—and falls in love with Ananda, a young apprentice sculptor. But a night of horrific violence forces them to flee India and begin new lives under different identities. Four decades later, Savi has reinvented herself as Missy, a successful driving school owner in Chicago and a respected member of the South Asian community. A devoted mother to her two daughters, Mansi and Shilpa, she appears to have achieved the American dream. However, when a charming young doctor named Varun enters their lives, secrets from her past threaten to unravel everything she has built. Spanning continents and generations, Missy explores migration, reinvention, family loyalty, and the lasting consequences of the choices people make to survive.

A stolen tiger, a young craftsman, and the spoils of an empire collide in this imaginative historical adventure. In eighteenth-century Mysore, seventeen-year-old Abbas catches the attention of Tipu Sultan, who commissions him to help create an extraordinary mechanical tiger. But when British forces invade the palace, the magnificent automaton is carried away as war booty. Years later, Abbas travels to Europe, determined to recover his creation and reclaim a piece of the world stolen from him. Spanning India, France, and England, Loot combines romance, adventure, and ingenious storytelling to explore artistic ambition, the costs of empire, and the enduring question of who has the right to own another culture’s treasures.

The Magnificent Ruins follows Lila De, an Indian American book editor whose career is gaining momentum when she learns that she has inherited her family’s sprawling ancestral home in Kolkata. Having been estranged from her relatives for sixteen years, Lila returns to India to confront a past she deliberately left behind. Her arrival unsettles the extended family members who still occupy the house, many of whom resent her unexpected inheritance. As old relationships resurface and family secrets begin to emerge, Lila finds herself caught between the life she has built in the United States and the complicated history connecting her to Kolkata. Roy explores inheritance in both its material and emotional forms, examining how family loyalties, unresolved grievances, and cultural expectations influence the search for belonging. The novel considers whether confronting the past can help individuals understand the people they have become.

The Daughters of Madurai explores the lives of two generations of women connected by family secrets, gender discrimination, and the painful consequences of patriarchal traditions. In Madurai, India, in 1992, Janani lives in poverty and faces enormous pressure to give birth to a son. In her community, daughters are considered a burden, and Janani is forced to endure the unimaginable loss of children she was never allowed to protect. Decades later, in Sydney in 2019, her daughter Nila struggles with a secret of her own. When a family emergency brings Nila back to India, she begins a journey that reveals hidden truths about her family’s past. Moving between India and Australia, Variyar examines the devastating consequences of gender inequality and the ways family secrets can shape successive generations. The novel explores motherhood, belonging, and the courage required to confront painful histories in the search for truth and reconciliation.