Anukrti Upadhyay writes fiction and poetry in both English and Hindi. Her Hindi works include a collection of short stories titled Japani Sarai (2019) and the novel Neena Aunty (2021). Among her English works are the twin novellas, Daura and Bhaunri (2019), and her novel Kintsugi (2020); the latter won her the prestigious Sushila Devi Award 2021 for the best work of fiction written by a woman author. Her writings have also appeared in numerous literary journals such as The Bombay Review, The Bangalore Review and The Bilingual Window. Anukrti has post-graduate degrees in management and literature, and a graduate degree in law. She has previously worked for the global investment banks, Goldman Sachs and UBS, in Hong Kong and India, and currently works with Wildlife Conservation Trust, a conservation think tank. She divides her time between Mumbai and the rest of the world, and when not counting trees and birds, she can be found ingratiating herself with every cat and dog in the vicinity.
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Kintsugi -- named after the ancient Japanese art of mending broken objects with gold -- is a novel about young women breaching boundaries, overcoming trauma, and challenging the social order. And about men surprised by women who are unconventional, unafraid and independent. It is the story of Meena, rebellious and unexamined, and Yuri, as complex as Meena is naive. Of Hajime, outsider to two cultures, and Prakash, unable to see beyond his limited horizons. It is also the story of Haruko who has dedicated herself to her art, and of Leela who is determined to break gender roles and learn the traditional gold-craft of her community.Set between Japan and Jaipur, Kintsugi follows the lives of these characters as they intersect and diverge, collide and break and join again in unexpected ways. The result is a brilliantly original novel as profound as it is playful, as emotionally moving as it is gripping.
