Tomb of Sand
‘Anything worth doing transcends borders,’ writes Geetanjali in her 2022 International Booker Prize-winning novel Tomb of Sand, the first Hindi-language novel and the first by an Indian author to receive the accolade. At over 600 pages, Geetanjali’s magnum opus is an epic in every sense of the word, weaving a family’s history and present through India’s partition with her customary innovation and playfulness of language and structure. The pages are full of fluid yet frank prose and imbued with rich folklore. We recommend you start here.
Mai: Silently Mother
Published in Hindi in 1993 Geetanjali’s debut novel was translated to English in 2017 and follows three generations of women in a North Indian town. With Mai, the seemingly placid mother at its epicentre, the story explores tradition, familial ties and our often conflicting perceptions of freedom.
Our City That Year
Set in unnamed city in India at an undetermined time an anonymous narrator rushes to transcribe what they see as waves of sectarian violence erupt between Hindus and Muslims. Published in English over 25 years after its initial release in Hindi and with conversations of national identity echoing the world over, Geetanjali’s vision of a society on a knife’s edge is essential reading.
Once Elephants Lived Here
Geetanjali’s most recent publication, Once Elephants Lived Here is a collection of short stories which unspool with no introduction, no explanation and no denouement. In one story a woman on a writing retreat falls in love with the sky. In another a woman exists only to walk in circles around her housing complex. Traversing an array themes and settings, each narrative is similarly branded by Geetanjali’s stylistic experimentation.