Latest Titles
-
THE CONFESSION OF SULTANA DAKU
Fiction 285 pages
Penguin Books India - November 2009
‘Another tour de force.' -- Michael Jansen, Deccan Herald
‘Sujit Saraf’s novel bowls along, carrying you effortlessly with it…a really good and unusual read.’ -- India Today
‘This story has almost everything: royalty, romance, bandits and policemen, fighting, escapes, torture, magic, songs and dances – in short, the works.' -- Shashi Warrier, Open Magazine
7 July 1924. Sultana Daku, notorious leader of a gang of bhantu dacoits that terrorized the towns and villages of the United Provinces, awaits Lt Col. Samuel Pearce’s arrival in Haldwani jail. It is Sultana’s last night. In the morning he will be hanged.
Wrapped in a haze of charas and nostalgia, the daku speaks all night as the Englishman listens. He recounts tales of incredible feats and narrow escapes, of the camaraderie he shared with his bhantu companions, of his love for the nautanki dancer Phulkanwar, and the shocking betrayal that brought him to the gallows. But even as Pearce and the reader are drawn into Sultana’s confession, the contradictions that emerge reveal the daku’s own demons – his fears, superstitions and ruthless excesses – and an unshakeable belief in his criminal destiny that clashes all too often with his secret longings and hopes.
Combining swashbuckling adventure with a moving story of human frailty and fortitude, THE CONFESSION OF SULTANA DAKU is a grand narrative that is as mesmerizing as it is unsettling. -
THE PEACOCK THRONE
Fiction (Literary Fiction) 750 pages
Sceptre - February 5, 2007
Shortlisted for the Encore Award 2009.
'One of the best novels I have read this year…a novel distinguished by the writer's capacity to tell a powerful and ambitious story.' -- Tabish Kahir, New Statesman
Biography
Born and raised in India, gained a Ph.D. from Berkeley. Formerly a NASA research scientist, he now works for Lockheed Martin. Runs a theatre group in the San Francisco area, for which he writes and direct plays (some in Hindi) and has also produced and directed independent feature films.
'[Saraf is] in the front rank of modern Indian authors.' Waterstone's Books Quarterly
Praise for THE PEACOCK THRONE:
'This sprawling novel teems with memorable characters and historical figures, plots and subplots. Saraf's rambunctious commentary on the nature of greed and mendacity is enthralling, but it's the lives of the ordinary people that provide the real drama in this huge novel.' Eithne Farry, Daily Mail
'Gives a more truthful picture of 21st century India than anything in the earnest pages of the Wall Street Journal. The novel recreates the chaos, violence and stench of Indian urban life with enormous skill and fidelity. ...a masterly work.' Chandak Sengoopta, Independent
Useful links
Related news
View all book clients