A Coming-of-Age Story

Set in the 1970s Emergency era New Delhi, Anjana Appachana’s novel Fear and Lovely brings to its readers an intimate look at how mental health was perceived at the time. The novel has multiple points of view, but the main storytellers are Mallika, Randhir and Arnav, all three of whom have grown up together in the same neighbourhood. The story revolves around one pivotal event which is mentioned right in the beginning: