Recommended Reads: Modern Fiction of India

India is the subject of a vast body of literature produced in the past fifty years. Award-winning and bestselling authors, many from India or of Indian descent, are exploring India's long fascinating history, its deep and varied cultures, and its challenges in the modern world.

Our collection contains a number of books from this important literary flowering. Here is a representative selection.

Recorded cassette (RC), digital books (DB), braille (BR), and large print (LT) copies of these books are available from the Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library. Please contact the library to order any of these books.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.
RC 68163, DB 68163
Bangalore, India. Over the course of seven days, Balram Halwai, a rickshaw-puller's son, writes to visiting Chinese premier Jiabao about his transformation from chauffeur to entrepreneur. Balram--sought for police questioning about a brutal murder--embodies the tumultuousness of modern India. Some violence and some strong language. Man Booker Prize. 2008.

A Golden Age by Tahmina Anam.
RC 67121, DB 67121
East Pakistan, 1971. When her teenage children Maya and Sohail join the struggle for an independent Bengali state, widow Rehana Haque is drawn into the conflict. Sohail uses their home as a base for guerilla operations, forcing Rehana to risk her life to keep their activities secret from authorities. 2007.

What the Body Remembers by Shauna Singh Baldwin.
RC 50703
Toward the end of the Raj in India, wealthy Sikh landowner Sardarji takes a young bride in hopes of fathering the children his first wife has been unable to provide. As political tensions over the imminent partition build, the two women vie for Sardarji's heart. Some descriptions of sex. 1999.

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiram Desai.
BR 17319, RC 64261, DB64261 (BARD Download Only)
Himalayas, 1986. Retired judge Jemubhai Patel lives with his cook and sixteen-year-old granddaughter, Sai. An Indian-Nepalese insurgency makes Jemubhai confront his past and interrupts Sai's romance with her Nepali tutor. Meanwhile, the cook worries about his son in America. Strong language, some explicit descriptions of sex, and some violence. Booker Prize. 2006.

Baumgartner's Bombay by Anita Desai.
RC 30152
The Indian author draws upon her family heritage in writing about a German Jew. Elderly and living in squalor behind Bombay's Taj Hotel, Hugo Baumgartner reflects on his life after an encounter with Kurt, a young German hippie. In flashbacks, we follow Hugo from the time he flees Germany, through his imprisonment in a detention camp during World War II, to his befriending of Kurt, and the resulting events. 1988.

Deep River by Shusaku Endo.
BR 10737
Novel of spiritual questioning by award-winning Japanese author. Four Japanese travelers visit the Ganges River in India, where they confront the dramas of their lives. The river has symbolic significance, especially evoking the convergence of the Buddhist, Christian, and Hindu religions. 1994.

Bitter Sweets by Roopa Farooki.
RC 66855, DB 66855
Bengali shopkeeper Nadim Rub dupes Ricky-Rashid Karim into marrying his lazy, illiterate thirteen-year-old daughter, Henna, beginning a series of deceptions that plague succeeding generations. Ricky and Henna's daughter Shona eventually confronts her own lies to save her sons. Some descriptions of sex. Orange Award nominee. 2007.

The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell.
BR 8666, RC 32993
Mr. Hopkins, the collector, or chief administrator, of a colonial outpost, first realizes there will be trouble when a series of four "chapatis," or biscuits, begin appearing--on his desk, on the veranda, in dispatch cases. They foretell the rebellion of the Indian sepoy, or soldiers, employed by the British raj. This story of the rebellion, written in 1973, won the "Booker Award," Britain's distinguished literary prize. 1973.

Journey by Indira Ganesan.
RC 33305
A mother takes her daughters, Renu and Manx, back to India for the funeral of their cousin. Although the girls were born on the mythical island of Pi, the Krishnan family immigrated to the United States years ago and the family is thoroughly American. But the comfort of the old ways and the warmth of an extended family cause Renu to reconsider her new life. A series of adventures helps her to decide the direction she will take. 1990.

Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh.
BR 18648, RC 68395 (In Process), DB 68395
1838. With the opium trade as a backdrop, the ship Ibis leaves British India bound for Mauritius and carrying a diverse crew and passengers, including a Bengali widow, a French orphan, a deposed raja, and an American freedman. Strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex. Man Booker Finalist.  Commercial audiobook. 2008.

Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.
BR 2984, RC 49404
An English girl in India recounts the story of Olivia, her grandfather's first wife, who was seduced by the Nawab, an Indian prince, in 1923. The parallels between the two women's experiences explore the English attraction to the exotic Indian culture. Booker Prize winner. 1975.

The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye.
RC 66098, DB 66098
Panoramic novel of adventure and romance set in nineteenth-century British India focuses on Ash, an English officer raised as a Hindu at the foot of the Himalayas -- the "Far Pavilions." His love for a beautiful Eurasian princess transcends separation, adversity, and cultural prejudice. 1978.

Interpreter of Maladies: Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri.
RC 50087
Nine tales of brief encounters with lasting effects, set in India and America. Each emphasizes cultural transition and loss. In the title piece, while American-born Mr. and Mrs. Das and their three young children are tourists in India, Mrs. Das confides a disquieting secret to their guide. Pulitzer Prize. Bestseller. 1999.

A River Sutra by Gita Mehta.
RC 37604
An Indian bureaucrat, who has retired to a bungalow on the Narmada River hoping to find peace and tranquility, narrates the tales of some of the pilgrims he has met as they journeyed to the sacred river. He tells of the son of a merchant who forgoes riches to become a monk, of a young girl rescued from a brothel, and of a young blind singer whose voice is reminiscent of the perfection of God. Some violence and some strong language. 1993.

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry.
LT 3076, RC 53004
India, 1975. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has declared a state of emergency, and the resulting upheavals thrust together four struggling people. Dina, a widowed seamstress in her forties, takes in Maneck, the college-age son of a school friend, along with two low-caste tailors, Ishvar and his nephew Om. Some violence. 1995.

Half A Life by V. S. Naipaul.
RC 53063
The coming-of-age story of Willie Chandran, the son of a Brahman and a woman of lower caste, whose disastrous union haunts Willie's existence. Escaping India for London, Willie tries to create a new identity as a writer, and marries a woman from Africa. Some descriptions of sex and some strong language. Bestseller. 2001.

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.
RC 44608, DB 44608 (BARD Download Only)
A story of class struggle, family crisis, and coming of age in Kerala, India. Born to prosperity, twins Estha and Rahel are isolated from the squallor and political unrest around them. The events of a single day in 1969 alter their lives and relationships forever. Descriptions of sex. Bestseller.  1997.

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth.
BR  9262, RC 35921
This saga involves the extended families of the Chatterjis, the Kapoors, the Khans, and the Mehras. Lata Mehra is a central figure in this huge cast, and throughout the story the quest for a suitable husband for Lata is a dominant, recurring theme. Set in India in the 1950s, background scenes depict the political climate of a newly independent country and the religious rivalries of Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. 1993.

Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup.
BR 18105, RC 68427 (In Process), DB 68427
Mumbai, India. Uneducated waiter Ram Mohammad Thomas wins a billion rupees on a quiz show but is accused of cheating and thrown into jail. In flashback-accounts to his lawyer, Ram explains his past adventures supplied him the winning answers. Strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex. Bestseller.  2005.

The Space Between Us by Thrity N. Umrigar.
BR 17123, LT 7300, RCX 6475
Bombay. Parallel life experiences cause wealthy widow Sera and her impoverished, dutiful servant Bhima to form a bond, despite class differences. But when Sera tries to help Bhima solve a family problem, Sera's son-in-law undermines the women's trust in each other. Some descriptions of sex and some strong language. 2005.

The Toss of a Lemon by Padma Viswanathan.
DB 68367, RC 68367
In 1896 ten-year-old Sivakami receives a marriage proposal from twenty-one-year-old astrologer Hanumarathnam. By eighteen, she is a widow, restricted by Brahmin traditions, with two children to raise. Her servant Muchami helps Sivakami guide her offspring through the political and social changes of the twentieth century's early decades. 2008.