Over the holidays I caught up with my friend Patricia who recently returned from two weeks in India. Listening to her colorful stories, I was reminded of my own trips to the continent.
Actually I have never traveled to India, but I have visited there many times in the pages of a book! For a dose of India without the jet lag, below are some of my favorites reads:
The Vish Puri Mystery Series by Tarquin Hall
Tarquin Hall is the London and Delhi based author of the charming mystery series featuring Vish Puri, India’s “Most Private Investigator” also known to his family as Chubby. Old fashioned mysteries with delightful retro titles such as The Case of the Missing Servant, The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken, and The Case of the Love Commandos.
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
This is not Vish Puri’s India! When the narrator casually mentions on page one that he murdered his boss, you can safely assume he doesn’t have a cuddly nickname. The White Tiger is a darkly humorous look at the underbelly of modern day India and the winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize.
Two brothers growing up in post Partition Calcutta choose different paths (science and revolutionary politics) with long ranging consequences for their family.
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
Winner of the 2006 Man Booker Prize, this novel concerns a family living in a small, isolated part of the northeastern Himalayas that is still processing the remnants of British colonalism.
Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire by Alex Von Tunzelmann
The Partition of India was the biggest peacetime land swap in modern history. In keeping with the epic scale of the endeavor were the larger than life personalities—Mohandas Gandhi, Lord and Lady Mountbatten, and Jawaharlal Nehru. A more personality driven, but completely scholarly, history of this epic event.
Jana Bibi’s Excellent Fortune by Betsy Woodman
This one goes in the “charming”catagory. When Janet Laird inherits her grandfather’s house in the small Indian hill station of Hamara Nagar, she finds a village full of characters that would be entirely recognizable to Jane Austen, as would the plot.