HYDERABAD:It’s the dull season in the literary space and most known writers are currently doing what they are meant to do -- write. Shuffling between literature festivals and promotional events from mid-September to March, the harsh summer months provide the much-needed space for writers to focus on their craft as their minds are not shattered by constant invitations and events.
Rumour has it that Vikram Seth is about to finish his much awaited sequel to “A Suitable Boy” -- and even publishing insiders are eagerly awaiting it. Namita Gokhale has started working on what she calls “a fascinating novel”, Jeet Thayil, Manu Joseph, Amitava Kumar and Anjum Hasan, among other prominent writers are all absent from the limelight and are, perhaps, silently working on their next offerings.Meanwhile, here are the most anticipated books in May 2018:
Daughters of the Sun
by Ira Mukhoty (Aleph)
In 1526, when the nomadic Timurid warrior-scholar Babur rode into Hindustan, his wives, sisters, daughters, aunts and distant female relatives travelled with him. These women would help establish a dynasty and empire that would rule India for the next 200 years and become a byword for opulence and grandeur. By the second half of the 17th century, the Mughal empire was one of the largest and richest in the world. fiery milk mothers and powerful wives -- often worked behind the scenes, but there were some notable exceptions among them who rode into battle with their men. It’s a chronicle of women who played a vital role in the lives of the Mughal.
The Glass House
by Chanchal Sanyal (Rupa)
A darkly comic take on the big, bad city of Delhi, its many moods and characters, “The Glass House” presents a look into the ideals of urban happiness, and the pitfalls and prices that come along with its pursuit. College professor M.B. and his designer wife, Roshni, are a yuppie couple living in the ever-expanding, smog-encrusted, roiling city of Delhi. They have finally achieved their dream of buying their own apartment-in an up and coming builder’s complex in Gurgaon (now Gurugram).
Koi Good News?
By Zarreen Khan (HarperCollins)
This “hilarious private journal of a highly public pregnancy” has already been optioned for a feature film by a major production house and has come with rave endorsements. Swati Daftuar, Commissioning Editor at HarperCollins says “Zarreen’s is one of the freshest and most exciting voices in Indian fiction in English that I’ve read in a while. It’s effortless, irreverent and entirely contemporary. This is the Indian urban life, laid out in all its hilarious glory - warts and all! We’re so glad to be publishing her.”
The Forgotten Cities of Delhi
by Rana Safvi (HarperCollins)
After the conquest of Delhi by Mohammad of Ghor, many dynasties ruled over it. Each of them either built a new capital or expanded the existing one, giving Delhi a living history of over 1,500 years. Today, these erstwhile cities remain as neighbourhoods with remarkable character -- Siri, Jahanpanah, Tughlaqabad, Firozabad, Dinpanah, Shergarh and Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti -- giving Delhi a unique soul incomparable to other state capitals. An exploratory trail of the remains of these cities.