Author(s): Santanu Bhattacharya

General Fiction

A powerfully moving debut novel of modern India- of violence and prejudice, friendship, family and loyalty, and of a young man coming of age in a country on fire.It is 1992, and India is ablaze with riots. In Lucknow, ten-year-old Shubhankar witnesses a terrible act of mob violence- an act in which his family are complicit and which alters the course of his life.In the two decades that follow, as he comes of age, Shabby must wrestle with the ghosts of his past and the expectations of his parents - driven by guilt, but also by his dreams, as he tries to navigate the contradictions of modern India. In Mumbai he encounters Ganjeri and Shruti, both, like him, seeking the freedom to rewrite their stories and forge new connections - and each entangled in the ties of family and tradition. As the rising tide of nationalism sweeps across the country, their friendship becomes a rock they all cling to.Until one day Shabby makes a split second decision that changes everything ...