Most anticipated books of 2016, by Indian authors
January 5, 2016The Star-Touched Queen by Roshni Chokshi
It is inspired by Greek mythology told in Indian mythological style, it has magic, romance, fantasy and what not told very stylishly in some elegant words. It may be a complete disaster or an awesome book, but it definitely is one of the most anticipated books of the year.
Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa
Sunil Yapa makes a powerful debut with a novel set amidst heated conflict of Seattle’s 1999 WTO protests. It’s a stylishly written novel voiced through 7 characters with different perspective. This book is surely going to start the New Year with a big bang.
The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan
Karan Mahajan dives into a difficult topic for his 2nd novel. The protagonist, Mansoor is a survivor of a bomb attack and loses his two friends, the Khurana brothers. Many years later, his life entangles with a Kashmiri bomb maker who has forsaken his own life for the independence of Kashmir. A difficult territory with a different perspective. Karan Mahajan touches various aspects of the protagonist’s life right from the bomb survival, to post 9/11 racism and the political scenario.
An Unrestored Woman by Shobha Rao
This March, Shobha Rao brings a set of 12 stories of woman all woven around the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan. The 1947 partition was a difficult part of India’s history and it changed the way Hindus and Muslims see each other and affected the future generations as well. Since the stories are woman centric, it would be interesting to see what comes up from this book. Expect to face some difficult truths.
Before We Visit the Goddess by Chitra Bannerjee Divakurni
A beautiful, powerful new novel from the bestselling, award-winning author of Sister of My Heart and The Mistress of Spices about three generations of mothers and daughters who must discover their greatest source of strength in one another—a masterful, brilliant tale of a family both united and torn apart by ambition and love.
The daughter of a poor baker in rural Bengal, India, Sabitri yearns to get an education, but her family’s situation means college is an impossible dream. Then an influential woman from Kolkata takes Sabitri under her wing, but her generosity soon proves dangerous after the girl makes a single, unforgiveable misstep. Years later, Sabitri’s own daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother’s choices, flees abroad with her political refugee lover—but the America she finds is vastly different from the country she’d imagined. As the marriage crumbles and Bela is forced to forge her own path, she unwittingly imprints her own child, Tara, with indelible lessons about freedom, heartbreak, and loyalty that will take a lifetime to unravel.
In her latest novel, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni explores the complex relation-ships between mothers and daughters, and the different kinds of love that bind us across generations. Before We Visit the Goddess captures the gorgeous com-plexity of these multi-generational and transcontinental bonds, sweeping across the twentieth century from the countryside of Bengal, India, to the streets of Houston, Texas—an extraordinary journey told through a sparkling symphony of voices.
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