CHENNAI: More than 15 years after he overwhelmed the literary world by authoring 'A Suitable Boy', Vikram Seth has confirmed his plan to pen that long-awaited sequel to the nearly 1500-page book — one of the longest-ever English novels to come out in a single volume.
'A Suitable Girl' will be published in autumn 2013, its publisher Penguin announced on Thursday.
Penguin’s Hamish Hamilton imprint (to be launched in India this month) has bought world English language rights (excluding the US) from Seth’s agent David Godwin.
“In 2013, Penguin will put the book into its distinguished Modern Classics list,” it said in a release.
In the intervening years, the London-headquartered publishers will also publish a new volume of Seth’s poems and a new book of essays. 'A Suitable Girl' will bring the narrative up to the present day, encompassing some of the enormous social and economic changes India has undergone in the last 60 years. “Lata, the sparky and rebellious heroine of 'A Suitable Boy', is now a grandmother, and her grandson is the one in search of a good match,” the release said.
'A Suitable Boy' was set against the backdrop of newly independent India and followed the lives of four families across several cities, as the central character Lata’s mother searched for a suitable groom for her.
Seth, while noting that Penguin has been publishing his books in India for long, said, “I hope in time to hatch many suitable eggs with them.”
Coincidentally, 2013 marks the twentieth anniversary of the publication of 'A Suitable Boy', which sold over a quarter of a million copies in hardback and over a million copies in paperback.
Ravi Singh, publisher of Penguin India, noted that 'A Suitable Boy' was “in many ways a defining work of contemporary Indian writing”.
Simon Prosser, Publishing Director of Hamish Hamilton UK, noted that hea had been a “devoted follower” of Seth since he read his debut work ‘The Golden Gate’ (1986).
Mike Bryan, CEO and president of Penguin India, recalled that ‘A Suitable Boy’ has been a landmark in the publishing house’s history.
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