The Promise | Damon Galgut

At the heart of this novel lies the history of South Africa. The story of the Swart family, which spread over a significant four-decade period, is intricately woven into the social, political, and cultural changes in their home country, providing a rich context to their narrative. This extensive backdrop is one of the redeeming qualities…

Mythos | Stephen Fry

Mythos written by Stephen Fry is a contemporary and concise retelling of Greek mythology but with a classical narrative. It doesn’t necessarily travel in a linear manner and sometimes we find similarly named people or places in more than one stories. Having said that, this retelling of classical stories with a relaxed timeline and emphasis…

Caste | Isabel Wilkerson

There is a saying in Marathi which roughly translates into English as, Caste is something you can not cast away. We see numerous examples of this in today’s day and age too, well into the second decade of the 21st century. As Isabel Wilkerson points out in this phenomenal book, this social issue has impacted…

The Cairo Trilogy- Palace of Desire | Naguib Mahfouz

The lyrics of a famous Hindi song were the ones came to my mind when I completed the second novel in the Cairo Trilogy. As the song goes, this novel talks about descending into recesses of one’s soul because of unrequited love. हम बेखुदी में तुमको पुकारे चले गये हम… हम बेखुदी में तुमको पुकारे…