By Sandhya Mary. Translated from the original Malayalam by Jayasree Kalathil

The brilliant presentation of contemporary life through anecdotes, especially, the one that narrates the incident of the madamma (white/foreign woman) who took a dog on rent for a week (pp. 197-198), are noteworthy for their wry humour and earthy witticism. Also satirical is the recounting of the event of the prophesying Mathiri Valyammachi (great-grandmother) who after having learnt the letters begins


Reviewed by: Annie Kuriachan
Edited and introduced by Haris Qadeer

Qadeer delves into the complexities of labour pain and pregnancy which mostly go unannounced, through Jeelani Bano’s ‘A Day in the Labour Room’, translated from the Urdu by Zakia Mashhadi. The story explores the intricacies of external authority over a woman’s body, which is subject to experiment and surgery, sometimes beyond the purview of her consent. The modern technology of advanced medical imaging has rendered the inner corridors of a woman’s body naked to investigative eyes.


Reviewed by: Shrishti Dey, Sree Lekshmi MS, Aratrika Das
By Pradeep Sebastian

We couldn’t linger. ‘There’s so much more to see,’ urged Pradeep as he led me away. ‘Let’s meet Potty’, he said, with what I thought was a mischievous smile. The captivating aroma of really old books wafted around the corner…and there sat Solomon Pottesman, alias Potty surrounded by mountains of lovely antique books. ‘I am an incunabulist’, read the legend on the back of his chair.


Reviewed by: Malini Seshadri
By Shubnum Khan

The novel uses the classic archetypal Gothic trope of an abandoned and deteriorating establishment inhabited by a paranormal entity. Of particular interest is Khan’s portrayal of Sana’s twin sister who is dead but continues to haunt the protagonist throughout the story. Further, Khan presents a poignantly eerie tale of Sana and her evil-spirited sister being born with conjoined hips and how the latter dies after the operation that attempts to separate the two. With efficacy, Khan renders Sana’s recalling of this moment as she lies unconscious on the operation table with her dead sister in the lines:


Reviewed by: Maneesha Sarda
By Achla Bansal

Bansal skilfully makes and un-makes a mesh of actions and their reactions. While Lipika’s intuitive sense of foreboding sets the mood very early in the novel with her intense dislike of Rahul: ‘How could she expect him (Kartik) to understand, when she herself knew not why she detested him?’ (p. 21), the novel comes alive with a host of other narrative devices such as images that emerge and turn metaphoric. For instance, Lipika’s virulent rashes. Kartik finds them so shocking that he consults Rahul.


Reviewed by: Lakshmi Kannan