Fictional or non-fiction? Entertaining or informative (or both)? Juicy or meditative? The past year has been enriched by those who wrote and contributed to our knowledge of the world, women, and relationships.
At least two Indian women made it to international bestseller lists. To call Booker-Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy’s twin memoir – her own activism and her mother Mary’s – the most anticipated memoir of the year would be an understatement. And Kiran Desai’s third novel, published after a gap of two decades, was like an epic.
Short Stories of Banu Mushtaq, translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi, heart lamp 2025 became the first Kannada book and the first short story collection to win the International Booker Prize and highlights the patriarchy and gender roles that people are forced to adopt.
Some books left their impact from the grave. The publication of Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s devastating posthumous account of being a victim of sex trafficking perpetrated by Jeffrey Epstein and his crony Ghislaine Maxwell to the rich and powerful had the effect of bringing down the already disgraced Andrew, brother of the King of England, by stripping him of his title and benefits.
Meanwhile, I asked four women, whose reading tastes are impeccable, about the books that made an impact. Here is the list:
Neelanjana S Roy
Reader, book-lover, editor and writer, Neelanjana S Roy is the author of The Wildings (2012) and hundred names of darkness (2013). His 2016 Delhi noir fiction, black river Was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award.
Arundhati Roy: Mother Mary comes to me (India Hamish Hamilton, 899)
Arundhati Roy writes with clarity and humor about two freedom-loving women – her mother, Mary Roy, and herself – who profoundly shaped and questioned the cultures around them. A tender, brutal and deeply honest memoir that doesn’t ignore the outrageous, destructive side of a legend, but instead rejects clichéd trauma narratives in favor of quiet acceptance and hard-won love. Mothers, daughters, writing and politics, and the subtle lessons of how to maintain faith in yourself through every challenge: this is a memoir for the ages.
Anuradha Roy: Called by the Hills: A Home in the Himalayas (John Murray India, 999)
“…and then huge pyramids of distant rock and ice seemed right in front of us, suddenly shining in the sunlight, far away from us, living in a different dimension, closer to the stars and the moon.” I loved this frank, insensitive but wonderful combination of several seasons of life spent in the mountains, away from the self-importance of the metropolises of India. This is a thoughtful tour around Ranikhet that brings out a sense of 25 years of slow time, the swing between comedy and tragedy, the grim peaks spread far and wide. Roy’s stunning watercolors are as essential and beautiful as the text.
Kiran Desai: Sonia and Sunny’s loneliness (India Hamish Hamilton, 999)
“A writer yearns and itches to put everything into one book, otherwise it becomes unbearable.” Kiran Desai is one of the most delightfully serious writers on the planet, and her third novel – hopping between India, America and Mexico, immigration and return, falling in love with the wrong and right people, the struggle to be a writer – is a huge, hugely enjoyable triumph.
Translated by Sara Rai, Ira Pandey and Sara Rai: Other skies, other stories (tongue, 595)
“Inside the brown feathers, like an inscription on old parchment, were dark yellow and black lines, very fine and wavy, like the last, rapidly fading signs of a lost civilization.” A soaring short story collection that embraces the natural world along with the bustling life of cities and small towns spread across India, it is meditative but never distracted by the violence happening all around us. Ira Pandey’s skillful, brilliant translation brings to life the multilingualism of Rai’s language.
Urvashi Butalia
Co-founder with Ritu Menon of Kali for Women, India’s first feminist publishing house, Urvashi Butalia is also the founder of Zubaan Books. She has written several books of her own, including Maulik, The Other Side of Silence: Voices from and the Partition of India and Speaking Peace: Women’s Voices from Kashmir.
Zara Chaudhary: lucky people (Context, 699)
A heart-wrenching memoir of a young woman’s memories of the 2002 anti-Muslim massacre in Gujarat. Zara Chaudhary describes her childhood in Gujarat, her slowly growing deadly isolation, and the violence of 2002 when she was sixteen. As the family is reunited, they wonder whether they will survive as the hordes arrive at their door and, with the intense intensity of the small acts of daily life, occur within them. Set in intense times, Zara Chaudhary also explores relationships within a family and how they change in the face of widespread fear and death.
Banu Mushtaq: Heart Lamp: Selected Stories (Penguin Random House, 399)
A closely observed and carefully presented selection of stories from the communities the author encounters in the course of her work, vignettes – women, neurotic men, patriarchs in all shapes and sizes, grandmothers and others. Deepa Bhasti’s beautiful translation makes this a very special book to read.
Sara Rae: Nabila and other stories (Hindi original published by Rajkamal Prakashan, 495, English translation published by Zubaan, 595)
I love Sarah’s spare and thought-provoking prose. The short story is like a piece of clay in her hand – she can draw a line in it and tell a story about that line and just when you think you’re getting close to the truth of the line, she’ll twist it and bend it out of shape. And it’s all done with empathy, meticulous attention to detail and sound and nuance and, often, a touch of humor.
Nayanjot Lahiri: Marshalling the Past: Ancient India and Its Modern History (Permanent Black)
I found this book at a friend’s apartment where I was staying and I couldn’t put it down. Informative, accessible, comprehensive, this book tells the stories of ancient civilizations, monuments and museums, Muslim begums who protected Buddhist legacies, and much more.
Namita Gokhale
Namita Gokhale has written 26 books, which include fiction, mythology and Himalayan studies. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Things to Leave Behind. She is the co-founder and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, undoubtedly one of the largest festivals that celebrates the written word. Gokhale is deeply invested in translation and multilingual literary exchange.
Volga: on the banks of the pampa (HarperCollins, 299)
Volga, the pen name of acclaimed Telugu writer Popuri Lalitha Kumari, is a deep and incisive writer whose work I have long admired. On the banks of the Pampa, the English version of his Telugu novel Pampatiram has been lyrically translated by Poornima Tammireddy. This deeply fictional account of the encounter between Rama and Sabari exposes nature in its most elemental form and addresses some of the key questions and dilemmas of the Ramayana’s foundational epic.
Tarini Mohan: Lifequake: A story of hope and humanity (Juggernaut, 799)
When Tarini Mohan was 24, she suffered a tragic road accident in Kampala, Uganda. I put him in a prolonged coma and left him with permanent physical disability. His emotional and poignant memoir tells of his life before, during and after the devastating earthquake. His extraordinary book is a testament to grit, determination and reflective self-examination.
Megha Majumdar: A guardian and a thief (Hamish Hamilton, 699)
Megha Majumdar’s remarkable new novel is set during a momentous week, and raises deep moral questions. The emotionally charged cli-fi tale sees a mother along with her young daughter and elderly father struggle to survive the cataclysmic events taking place in near-future Kolkata. Their treasured immigration documents are stolen by thief Boomba, and the story turns into an intense saga of hope, despair and familial love.
Ruthvika Rao: fertile soil (Hamish Hamilton, 699)
Ruthvika Rao’s ambitious debut novel has epic sweep, scale and visuals. The personal and the political collide in this story of star-crossed lovers and dynamic social change. This book reflects an urgency, almost a hunger, within its pages as it travels with us from wild rural landscapes to urban aspirations, reflecting on a nation and society facing new trials and challenges.
Ghazala Wahab
The first book of 2021 by Ghazala Wahab, Executive Editor, Force Magazine, Born a Muslim: Some truths about Islam in India Won several awards including Book of the Year (Non-Fiction) at Tata Lit Live and Atta Galatta. She is co-author with Praveen Sawhney The Dragon at Our Door: Managing China through Military Powerhis new book, Hindi Heartland: A study (Aleph) was released earlier this year and is a critical look at what has long been considered the political nerve-centre of India but is still economically and socially backward.
Arundhati Roy: Mother Mary comes to me (India Hamish Hamilton, 899)
An obvious choice that, despite the criticism of the second part, is actually a great book for many reasons. One is very curious about the life of Arundhati Roy, her sudden emergence in the literary firmament and then quiet shift towards activism. And two, her language – which flows like a river, most of the time slowly and reflectively but sometimes tinged with self-verification and boastfulness – offers lessons in memoir writing. He is candid and rare at the same time.
Ananya Vajpayee: Location: Intimate Encounters with Cities (Women Unlimited Ink, 625)
As soon as I came to know about Ananya’s book, I bought it because I was curious about the concept of urban memoirs. I thought it was something I would love to write myself at some point. Thankfully Ananya has rejected this assumption of mine. His book is extremely perceptive, adventurous and beautifully written. In her writing, the personal flows seamlessly into the political, both of which shape her relationship with the cities she writes about. Absolutely fantastic.
Chandra Mohan and Jyotsna Mohan Pratap: A defiant newspaper (HarperCollins, 499)
Although Pratap came out earlier this year, I came to know about it recently and was instantly attracted to it. The pre-independence newspaper Pratap needs no introduction, but its founder deserves a place in modern Indian history. I had a brief introduction to Virendra (Mohan), who founded Pratap, in Aparna Vedic’s Waiting for Swaraj, but the book of the same name jointly written by his granddaughter Jyotsna and his son Chandra Mohan ultimately does justice to his legacy of courage and inclusive patriotism. A must read, especially in our current times, when most of the ‘mainstream media’ is at its lowest ebb.
(What were your favorite books written by women in 2024? Write to me at: namita.bhandare@gmail.com)
