Krishnadevaraya is a familiar name. I remember some of the battles he fought from history class in school. I’ve marvelled at the lofty gopurams he built in Hampi. But who was Krishnadevaraya, the man? Ra.Ki. Rangarajan tells us in “I, Krishnadevaraya”, a novel written in the first-person. I had never come across such a narrative...
“You may see no rivers on the ground but we keep the rivers inside us. That is why all good things and all good people are called rain. Sometimes we see the rain clouds gather even though not a cloud appears in the sky. It is all in our heart.” I challenged myself to ‘Read...
Costanza Casati’s Babylonia transports us to the 9th century BC, to the kingdom of Assyria where we meet the legendary figure of Semiramis. The story opens in the village of Mari, where Semiramis, abandoned as a child, grows up under the harsh guardianship of Simmas, a shepherd. Subjected to cruelty and derision from her adoptive...
Sarah Manguso’s Liars is a haunting novel that dissects a marriage doomed by its own foundations. The novel begins with Jane, an aspiring writer, meeting John, a charismatic filmmaker. Both share lofty dreams of love and artistic success and they waste no time in getting married. Yet, cracks in their shared vision quickly appear. John’s...
I first came upon the story of Muziris and its disappearance in Sethu’s novel ‘The Saga of Muziris’. Since then, this once-magnificent port town that sank without a trace has captivated me. So when I noticed Hamish Morjaria’s ‘The Curse of Muziris’ I wasted no time in reading it. Spread a little over 400 pages,...
Have you heard of ‘lavender marriages’? It’s a marriage of convenience to hide the true sexual orientation of the two people involved for society’s sake. In S.J. Sindhu’s Marriage of a Thousand Lies it’s Lucky (short for Lakshmi) and Krishna who enter a lavender marriage. The story begins with Lucky temporarily moving to her mother’s...
Castles, princesses, magical creatures. These are what fairy tales are made of. And then there’s Castle Waiting by Linda Medley, which has bearded nuns, a BoJack Horseman-like character, a talking crow, pregnant lady on the lam, and so many other equally quirky characters. The book begins with a take on Sleeping Beauty. An entire town...
Being a fan of John Boyne’s books, I was thrilled to receive a copy of his latest “A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom” from Penguin Random House for a review. Without giving any spoilers, here is a bare outline of the plot: An unknown man leads the reader through 2000 years. His story unfolds,...
In her much-celebrated novel, Breasts and Eggs, the principal character, Natsuko, asks some rudimentary questions. “Does blood coming out of your body make you a woman? A potential mother? What makes that so great anyway?” “What’s the secret to long life?” “What’s it mean to hurt, anyway?” Natsuko is single and in her late 30’s...
I relish books that take me to different geographies, show me how a land breathes and lives. Latitudes of Longing, in that sense, is rich in its sprawl. Beginning with the story of Girija Prasad and Chanda Devi in the Andamans the story took me across continents through an intricately woven tapestry of people and...
