Categories: Fiction

THE GREATEST GAON STORIES EVER TOLD (HB)

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The Greatest Goan Stories Ever Told features some of the best short fiction to emerge from the pens of Goans living in India and abroad over the last century, in English and superbly translated from the Portuguese, Konkani, and Marathi. The storytellers included range from eminent writers such as Laxmanrao Sardessai and Vimala Devi to contemporary writers like Damodar Mauzo, Ramnath Gajanan Gawade, Jessica Faleiro, and Derek Mascarenhas. The collected stories cover subjects as wide, diverse, and absorbing as the Goan people— from iron ore mining in Epitácio Pais’s ‘A Story about Mines’ and Pundalik Naik’s ‘The Palm Tree’ and the agrarian village lifestyle in Mahableshwar Sail’s ‘The Yoke’ and Prakash S. Parienkar’s ‘The Sacrifice’, to diasporic experiences in Selma Carvalho’s ‘Bed Blocker No. 10’ and Roanna Gonsalves’s ‘Curry Muncher’, and patriarchal family structures in Nayana Adarkar’s ‘The Protector’. Goa threads these stories together—its varied characters from various communities and religions, its colourful people, its Portuguese colonial history, its picturesque landscape, and the general aura surrounding the place. Selected and edited by Manohar Shetty, the twenty-seven stories in this anthology are proof that there’s more to Goa than hats and sunglasses, printed shirts and shorts, cameras, seafood, and holidaymakers frolicking on its beaches.

THE GREATEST GUJARATI STORIES EVER TOLD (HB)

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The twenty-three stories in The Greatest Gujarati Stories Ever Told represent some of the finest short fiction in Gujarati literature. Selected and edited by translator and writer Rita Kothari, this collection features established literary masters such as K. M. Munshi, Dhumketu, Himanshi Shelat, Dalpat Chauhan, Nazir Mansuri, and Mona Patrawalla, as well as accomplished new voices such as Panna Trivedi, Abhimanyu Acharya, Raam Mori, and others. In K. M. Munshi’s epistolary ‘A Letter’, a childbride is worked to her death as she yearns for her husband’s affection; in Neerav Patel’s ‘Creamy Layer’, the politicized, urban, and upwardly mobile Mr and Mrs Vaghela must confront the deep chasm that has grown between them and their family in the village; in Panna Trivedi’s ‘Maajo’, the story’s eponymous young narrator longs for butter-soft skin and a Shah Rukh-like glance from a young man on the train; in ‘Saubhagyavati: The Fortunate Wife’, Dwiref explores the selfish and oppressive nature of marital sex; in ‘A Drop of Blood’ Jayant Khatri looks at how violent acts engender more violence; Mona Patrawalla explores the tribal region of the Dangs and paints a hair-raising picture of the violent forms of power wielded by the Parsi landlords there in ‘The Black Horse’; in Dashrath Parmar’s ‘Nandu’, the narrator struggles to hide his caste in the face of insistent questions; in ‘Jumo Bhishti’ by Dhumketu, we see the wonderful bond between Jumo and his beloved buffalo, Venu; and in Abhimanyu Acharya’s ‘Chunni’, a young woman, Shaili, navigates the world of dating in a city far away from home—these and other stories in the collection are passionate, profound, and timeless, showcasing a range of styles and offering a variegated and singular picture of Gujarat.

THE GREATEST HINDI STORIES EVER TOLD (HB)

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The twenty-five stories in The Greatest Hindi Stories Ever Told represent the finest short fiction in Hindi literature. Selected and translated by editor, writer, and translator Poonam Saxena, and ranging from early literary masters of the form such as Premchand, Chandradhar Sharma Guleri, Bhisham Sahni, Harishankar Parsai, Mannu Bhandari, and Shivani to contemporary greats such as Asghar Wajahat, Uday Prakash, Sara Rai, and others, the collection has stories of darkness, hope, triumph, anger, and irony. In Premchand’s ‘The Thakur’s Well’, ‘low-caste’ Gangi struggles to find drinking water for her ill husband; in ‘The Times Have Changed’ by Krishna Sobti, the matriarch Shahni bids a heart-breaking farewell to her village during Partition; Krishna Baldev Vaid’s ‘Escape’ is a telling story about women’s yearning for freedom; Yashpal’s ‘Phoolo’s Kurta’ is a sharp commentary on child marriage and notions of female modesty; in Bhisham Sahni’s ‘A Feast for the Boss’ and Usha Priyamvada’s ‘The Homecoming’, ageing parents find themselves tragically out of sync with their family; Amarkant’s ‘City of Death’ looks at the fragile thread that holds together communal peace; Phanishwarnath Renu’s ‘The Third Vow’ features the lovable bullock-cart driver Hiraman; Bhagwaticharan Varma’s ‘Atonement’ and Harishankar Parsai’s ‘The Soul of Bholaram’ are scathing satires; and ‘Tirich’ by contemporary writer Uday Prakash is a surreal tale—these and other stories in the collection are compelling, evocative, and showcase an unforgettable range of brilliant styles, forms, and themes. Chandradhar Sharma Guleri, Premchand, Bhagwaticharan Verma, Yashpal, Agyeya, Bhisham Sahni, Phanishwarnath Renu, Harishankar Parsai, Amarkant, Krishna Sobti, Krishna Baldev Vaid, Rajendra Yadav, Mohan Rakesh, Kamleshwar, Usha Priyamvada, Mannu Bhandari, Kamtanath, Shivani, Doodhnath Singh, Omprakash Valmiki, Shaani, Shekhar Joshi, Asghar Wajahat, Uday Prakash, Sara Rai

THE GREATEST KASHMIRI STORIES EVER TOLD (HB)

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The Greatest Kashmiri Stories Ever Told spans almost a century of work by some of the finest writers of short fiction in the language. The storytellers included here range from the earliest practitioners of the craft of short story writing—Dinanath Nadim, Somnath Zutshi, Ali Mohammad Lone—to more contemporary writers like Dheeba Nazir. Some stories in this collection are realistic dramas that hold up a startlingly clear mirror to society, such as Sofi Ghulam Mohammad’s ‘Paper Tigers’, or lay bare the pain of losing one’s homeland, as Rattan Lal Shant does in ‘Moss Floating on Water’. Then there are others like Ghulam Nabi Shakir’s ‘Unquenched Thirst’ and Umesh Kaul’s ‘The Heart’s Bondage’, that look beyond the exterior and focus on the complex inner lives of the women of Kashmir. Selected and translated by Neerja Mattoo, the twenty-five stories in this volume, all born out of the Kashmiri experience, will resonate with readers everywhere.

THE GREATEST MARATHI STORIES EVER TOLD (HB)

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The twenty-eight stories in The Greatest Marathi Stories Ever Told represent some of the finest short fiction in Marathi literature. Selected and edited by writer and translator Ashutosh Potdar, this collection features established literary masters such as Gangadhar Gadgil, G. A. Kulkarni, Baburao Bagul, Kamal Desai, Vilas Sarang, Anna Bhau Sathe, Urmila Pawar, Jayant Narlikar, Hamid Dalwai, and others. In ‘Divine Intervention’, Chintaman Vinayak Joshi uses a touch of magic to transform the pain of the common man; ‘King Maruti’ by Vyankatesh Madgulkar and ‘Hari’s Laughter’ by Jayant Pawar underline the cruelty and carelessness of humans towards other life forms; Anna Bhau Sathe’s ‘Gold From the Graves’ tells the story of a desperate migrant worker who is forced to rob graves to make ends meet; Bhaskar Chandanshiv’s ‘Red Muck’ depicts the struggles of rural poverty; Yogiraj Waghmare takes an interesting look at superstitions in ‘Crows’; ‘Relationships’ by Asha Bage and ‘And then it Poured’ by Gauri Deshpande are telling and poignant explorations of human relationships; and Vilas Sarang explores complex truths about nations and borders in ‘Kalluri’s Radio’. The stories in this collection are melancholic, sarcastic, humorous, elegant, and experimental—together, they showcase the range, variety, and vibrancy of the Marathi short story and famed Marathi literary tradition.

THE GREATEST ODIA STORIES EVER TOLD (HB)

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The Greatest Odia Stories Ever Told showcases Odia’s greatest storytellers ranging from literary masters such as Fakir Mohan Senapati, Gopinath Mohanty, Reba Ray, and Manoj Das to contemporary stalwarts like Pratibha Ray, and Nrusingha Tripathy, among others. A young woman who was dragged away by a crocodile mysteriously resurfaces after a decade in Manoj Das’s ‘Mrs Crocodile’; a pet goat let loose in a government office causes amusement and chaos in Gopinath Mohanty’s ‘The Solution’; Godavaris Mahapatra’s ‘Maguni’s Bullock Cart’ deals with the anxieties of a bullock cart driver stuck between the trappings of traditions and modernity—the stories in this anthology traverse an exciting range of themes from fantasy to reality, and bone-chilling horror to rib-tickling humour. Timeless, evocative and striking, The Greatest Odia Stories Ever Told offers a rich selection of stories that are unrivalled in their range, style and complexity. Selected and translated by Leelawati Mohapatra, Paul St-Pierre, and K. K. Mohapatra, the twenty-four stories in this volume showcase the finest short fiction in Odia literature.

THE GREATEST TELUGU STORIES EVER TOLD (HB)

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The Greatest Telugu Stories Ever Told spans almost a century of work by some of the finest writers of short fiction in the language. The storytellers included in the anthology range from literary masters such as Chalam, Kanuparthi Varalakshmamma, and Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao to contemporary writers like Mohammed Khadeer Babu, Jajula Gowri, and Vempalle Shareef. The tales found in this collection weave a rich tapestry of Telugu experiences. Illindala Saraswati Devi’s ‘Bad Times’ discusses the downturn in Muslim fortunes after the integration of the nizam’s state with the Indian union. Boya Jangaiah’s ‘The Eclipse’ chronicles the aching memories that besiege a Dalit poet when he makes a brief stop at his village. Bandi Narayanaswami’s ‘Water’ dramatizes the acute shortage of water in the Rayalaseema region and its exacerbation by political rivalries. Kavana Sarma’s ‘House Number’ gently mocks a self-proclaimed math genius and his attempts at memorizing a simple house number. A heartbreaking love story, Vempalli Gangadhar’s ‘Festival of Love’ is a romance imbued with the fragrance of jasmine fields. Selected and deftly translated by Dasu Krishnamoorty and Tamraparni Dasu, these and the other stories in this collection offer a window into how the Telugu people see the world and their place in it.

THE HOUSE OF BLUE MANGOES

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It is the last year of the nineteenth century in the village of Chevathar in southern India. Solomon Dorai, the headman, is desperately trying to hold together the fraying ends of village life at a time of huge social and political unease. When violence finally erupts, it takes Solomon and the traditional structure of the village with it. Three generations of Dorais come and go in the village by the sea, winning and losing the battle of Chevathar. There are Solomon’s sons: the dazzling, athletic Aaron and the studious Daniel, both exiled by their father’s death but in different ways, both determined to make their mark on the world. And there is Daniel’s son, Kannan, faced with a set of challenges that could break him if he isn’t strong enough…

THE HUNDRED NAME OF DARKNESS

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In the sequel to her critically acclaimed, bestselling novel, The Wildings, Nilanjana Roy takes us back to the Delhi neighbourhood of Nizamuddin, and its unforgettable cats—Mara, Southpaw, Katar, Hulo and Beraal. As they recover slowly from their terrible battle with the feral cats, they find their beloved locality changing around them. Winter brings an army of predators—humans, vicious dogs, snakes, bandicoots—along with the cold and a scarcity of food… Unless Mara can help them find a safe haven, their small band will be wiped out forever. With the assistance of a motley group of friends—Doginder, a friendly stray; Hatch, a cheel who is afraid of the sky; Thomas Mor, an affable peacock; Jethro Tail, the mouse who roared; and the legendary Senders of Delhi—Mara and her band set out on an epic journey to find a place where they can live free from danger. With all the brilliance and originality of its predecessor, The Hundred Names of Darkness brings the story of Mara and the enormously appealing cats of Nizamuddin to a breath-taking conclusion.

THE KING'S HARVEST-PB (NOT SALE)

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Just before midnight on New Year’s Eve, in a village above the Rangeet river in Sikkim, a woman called Kamala hacks her husband, Police Constable Puran, into forty-seven pieces, then walks to the nearby police station and turns herself in. At first, the murder seems an open-and-shut case to Dechen, the tough, foul-mouthed, prickly lady cop in-charge of the investigation. But as she begins to delve into the lives of Kamala and Puran, she discovers a world of lies, deceit and love gone wrong, where nothing is as it seems, and the guilt of murderers is difficult to establish. On a day of endless rain, a man emerges from thirty-two years of isolation to meet his king, whom he owes a share of the harvest from his fields. Journeying across leech-infested forests and forbidding valleys, he tells his children the story of his life one that has been full of drama and magic. But the biggest miracle of all awaits him in Gangtok… These two novellas, united by their strong sense of place, showcase Chetan Raj Shresthas enormous gifts as a storyteller. Magical, gritty, nerve-wracking and stylish in equal measure, this is an exceptional debut.