Anjana Appachana's Books

Listening Now

By: Anjana Appachana

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The story of Listening Now takes place before the events of Appachana’s 2023 critically acclaimed novel, Fear and Lovely. Mallika, a child given to weaving, is convinced that the lives of the mothers around her are dull and devoid of passion and fantasizes romantic love. The truth, which lies at the heart of this story, is completely different. Her mother, Padma, her mother’s sister, Shanta, her mother’s two friends, Madhu and Anu, and her grandmother, Rukmini, all hold wrenching secrets; their complex lives and longings are beyond the child Mallika’s comprehension. Set in 1950s and 1960s, this story encompasses the lives of two generations of women in a small, New Delhi neighbourhood, where conventional lives are lived on the surface, while below, secrets seethe—threatening to destroy everything that has been so carefully constructed to accommodate society’s structures and expectations. Rendered through six points of view, Listening Now captures the voices of these women; the spoken conversations as well as all that remains in the realm of silence. Shortlisted for the Crossword Prize when it was first published in 1998, Listening Now holds readers in its embrace from the very first line.

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Page Count

490

Publisher

Penguin Random House India Private Limited

Published Date

ISBN 10

9357086544

ISBN 13

9789357086547

Incantations and Other Stories

By: Anjana Appachana

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Incantations and Other Stories

By: Anjana Appachana

The Stories In This Collection Are Set In The Early Eighties, And Anjana Appachana Wonderfully Captures The Raw, Vibrant Energy And Optimism Of A Time When We Drank Chai For Thirty Paise, And Twenty Thousand Rupees Spent On &Lsquo;Gifts&Rsquo; For The Boy&Rsquo;S Side Was An Enormous Amount Of Money For Middle-Class Indians. Her Characters Strain For A Place Beyond The Boundaries Of A Prescribed Way Of Life In Urban Middle India: A Hapless College Student Gets Gated A Few Days Before Her Appointment For An Abortion; A Disgruntled Clerk Philosophises Gloomily About His Place In The Scheme Of Things; A Young Girl, Against All Odds, Decides To Keep Her Sister&Rsquo;S Deep, Dark Secret. By Turns Warm, Gullible, Arrogant And Bigoted, Appachana&Rsquo;S Characters Live Their Lives Amid Contradictions And Double Standards, Superstitions And Impossible Dreams, But Ultimately Usurp Their Familiar Landscape And Imbue It With An Idiosyncratic Vision.

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Page Count

196

Publisher

Penguin Books India

Published Date

ISBN 10

0143100912

ISBN 13

9780143100911

Fear and Lovely

By: Anjana Appachana

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Fear and Lovely

By: Anjana Appachana

Mallika is a painfully shy young woman growing up in the heart of a close-knit, sometimes stifling New Delhi colony. Though she is surrounded by love, her life is complicated by secrets that she, her mother and her aunt work hard to keep. After suffering a trauma aged nineteen, Mallika loses three days of her memory and slowly spirals into a deep depression. She must find a way out of this abyss, back to herself and those she cares about. But she must also hide her mental illness from her community. In a narrative that unfolds elliptically from the perspectives of Mallika and the seven people closest to her, the astonishing story of these characters' lives emerges. For Mallika's family, childhood friends and the two men she loves are also hiding truths. As each gives voice to contending with their own struggles, secrets and silences shatter.

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