‘कौन कहता है कि मैं दुर्बल हो गया हूँ?’
‘तुम खुद देख रहे होगे।’
‘दिल की आग जब तक नहीं बुझेगी, आइवन नहीं मरेगा, मि. जेलर, सौ वर्ष तक नहीं, विश्वास रखिए।’
चौदह साल तक निरन्तर मानसिक वेदना और शारीरिक यातना भोगने के बाद आइवन ओखोटस्क जेल से निकला; पर उस पक्षी की भाँति नहीं, जो शिकारी के पिंजरे से पंखहीन होकर निकला हो बल्कि उस सिंह की भाँति, जिसे कठघरे की दीवारों ने और भी भयंकर तथा और भी रक्त-लोलुप बना दिया हो। उसके अन्तस्तल में एक द्रव ज्वाला उमड़ रही थी, जिसने अपने ताप से उसके बलिष्ठ शरीर, सुडौल अंग-प्रत्यंग और लहराती हुई अभिलाषाओं को झुलसा डाला था।
Catagory: Fiction
Fiction main category
Hot Butter Cuttlefish
Recovering from an unhappy marriage, personal trainer Malik relocates to the village of Kalabola, nestling snugly in the armpit of Sri Lanka’s largest lake, which spreads its tentacles, octopus-like, between Colombo and Kalutara. Do octopuses have armpits? Possibly not. If they did, Kalabola would be curled right in there. When Covid strikes, the villagers are mortified. It’s Karma, obviously. What have they done to deserve this very personal insult? How will they ever again hold their heads high in Gampaha and Warakapola? They are now the chosen ones, chosen to be humiliated in this utterly shameful—no, shameless!—manner. In this deliciously dark Sri Lankan romantic comedy, lines between hero and villain are smudged. Love arrives in strange disguises, politics get deeply personal, redemption is just a rumour. At its centre stands Karma, who may well be its true leading lady.
As the arch-villain and local MP Biju puts it, ‘If you don’t ride your Karma, you’ll find one day your Karma riding you.’
Gangrene
In percentage terms, Punjab has the highest Dalit population in India (around 30 per cent of its population). But inspite of that, Punjabi Dalit writing has struggled to find recognition.
Initial writings about Dalit issues were largely by the stalwarts of Punjabi literature like Nanak Singh, Gurbaksh Singh Preetlari, Kulwant Singh Virk and Gurdial Singh. Since the 1970s though, Punjabi Dalit writing has undergone a shift in consciousness with the emergence of Attarjit, among the earliest Dalit writers to make a mark. Soon, others like Prem Gorkhi, Mohan Lal Phillauria, and Bhagwant Rasulpuri emerged.
Gangrene is an attempt to compile some of Punjabi literature’s most powerful short stories on Dalit themes and issues. Carefully curated by Prof. Akshaya Kumar and Navdeep Singh, this volume features stories on a variety of issues ranging from caste identities and rural exploitation to urban life and housing. Searing in its indictment of casteism, this volume is a window to a better understanding of Punjabi society.
The Asylum Confessions
“They arrive alive. They always leave in body bags.
But not before they confess everything to me.”
The name’s Jack Steen, Night Nurse at an asylum for the criminally insane.
For those who arrive at my ward, mine is last face they’ll see before they die. Most of them know me as their Angel of Death.
I call them what they are. Serial killers, rapists, manipulators. Predators who’ve run out of time.
I can make death come easy.
But there’s a catch. I need their confessions. The ones everyone wants to hear.
Patient 1024 has an interesting appetite. Patient 1203 is fragile, sweet as honey, but she’ll break your heart. Patient 974 is Ken to his Barbie; he’ll do anything to keep her smiling.
But these monsters are masters of the game, lying and hunting through life. Their final confession might be true—or one last hat-trick to burrow into my skull.
And now? Maybe yours too.
The nurse who listens isn’t your hero—he’s your guide into hell.
Beware. These aren’t bedtime stories.
The Sister Under The Stairs
A chilling psychological thriller from New York Times bestselling author Steena Holmes
“It’s a miracle I am alive, they say.
I say miracles don’t happen in today’s world.”
Twelve years ago, Jess vanished without a trace.
Each year since, Paige, her twin sister receives a bouquet of flowers and a note that simply says: I’m sorry.
Until the day she gets a text that changes everything: I found her.
Desperate for answers, she follows the trail—only to realize she’s walking straight into a labyrinth.
Someone knows what happened that night. Someone has been waiting for her to come looking.
And the truth is far darker than she ever imagined.
A missing twin. A guilty sister. A secret that refuses to stay buried.
Tense and addictive from the very first page—Steena Holmes delivers twist after twist until the final, devastating reveal.
Perfect for fans of Freida McFadden, Daniel Hurst, Lucy Clarke, Lucy Foley, Shari Lapena, T.M. Logan and Clare Mackintosh.
Vikram and Betaal
Vikram Chauhan, a brilliant fintech entrepreneur with no belief in the supernatural, is at the peak of his Silicon Valley career. But when his wife, Meera, is diagnosed with terminal cancer, his world collapses. He abandons everything to chase a cure at any cost. His desperate search leads him to the whispers of a hidden temple in the remote town of Gresham, Rajasthan, said to perform miraculous healings.
But Gresham hides darker truths. On the ominous night of the Blood Moon, Vikram is brought before the temple’s enigmatic high priest, who offers him a single, terrifying bargain: salvation for Meera, in exchange for capturing the ancient pishach—Betaal.
Bound by an otherworldly oath to Vikram’s bloodline, the pishach draws him into a harrowing cycle of encounters. Each time Vikram closes in, Betaal tells the story of its current host and poses a riddle that tests his morality, forcing him to confront the limits of love, logic, and faith.
As Meera’s time slips away and the curse of his lineage resurfaces, Vikram must face an impossible question: how much of his humanity is he willing to sacrifice to save the woman he loves?
Vikram and Betaal: Night of the Blood Moon plunges into a world where ancient folklore collides with modern reason, a haunting tale of love, legacy, and the darkness that binds them both.
Discovery of New India
A girl and a boy born into different classes meet by chance. In their meaningful but brief time together, they explore life and the reality of New India. Two dogs accompany them as his nationalism runs into her studied scepticism.
Guiding readers through a country remade, Discovery of New India is a witty, accessible political primer on a decade of change and its human impact.
Father Cabraal’s Recipe for Love Cake
Father Cabraal’s Recipe for Love Cake explores the complex legacies of colonial exploitation and slavery in a tropical island in the Indian Ocean (a loosely fictionalised Sri Lanka). Two compelling stories run in parallel:
In the 21st century, Katharina Silvaria, formerly a tv news journalist and war reporter based in London, now lives on the island, in an ancient house she has recently inherited. Damaged by her experiences as a war reporter and seeking a quiet life, Katharina earns a living by baking and exporting cakes made to an old recipe she found in the house. Amid one of the periodic rebellions against a repressive and unjust government, wounded fugitive Rajiv Almeida takes refuge in Katharina’s house, and she reluctantly agrees to shelter him from the police.
In the late 17th century, significant areas of the island are controlled by a powerful European trading enterprise known only as The Company. Santiago De Melo, one of the first Europeans to reside in the island Fort, builds an imposing house for himself and, defying convention, chooses as his bride a local woman, Maria, who has good reason to hate The Company. Unusually, Maria has inherited from her lover – and now runs – one of the best pepper farms in the area. But the casually brutal deputy governor of the island is determined to seize control of its lucrative pepper trade, and tragedy follows.
The Vegetarian (Special Hardcover)
Special Hardback Indian Edition of The Vegetarian :Winner of the 2024 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE,
Winner of the INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE,
Author Han Kang’s premium finish edition, Ideal for literary readers and gift buyers. A strange, painfully tender exploration of the brutality of desire indulged and the fatality of desire ignored… Exquisite’ Eimear McBride Yeong-hye and her husband are ordinary people – dutiful wife and mild-mannered office worker. One day, prompted by grotesque recurring nightmares, Yeong-hye decides to become a vegetarian. But in South Korea, where vegetarianism is almost unheard-of and societal mores are strictly obeyed, it is a shocking act of subversion.
Yeong-hye’s passive rebellion rapidly manifests in ever more bizarre and frightening forms, from sexual sadism to attempted suicide, and in increasingly erotic and unhinged artworks, as all the while she spirals further into her fantasies…
Disturbing and beautiful by turns, The Vegetarian is a revelatory novel about modern day South Korea; a tale of shame, desire and our faltering attempts to understand others.
The Housemaid: A Gripping Psychological Thriller with a Shocking Twist | TikTok Sensation, #1 Bestseller, Movie Tie-In Special Edition with Sprayed Edges
‘Multi-Million Copy Bestselling Series
Now a Major Motion Picture
Discover the thriller that has taken TikTok, Instagram, and bestseller lists by storm.
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden is a dark, addictive psychological thriller packed with shocking twists, simmering tension, and an unforgettable ending. A global bestseller and viral sensation, this compulsive read is perfect for fans of Verity, The Woman in the Window, Ruth Ware, and Lisa Jewell.
Why Readers Love The Housemaid:
✔ Multi-million copy bestselling series
✔ #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Sunday Times bestseller
✔ Viral TikTok and Instagram sensation
✔ Now adapted into a major motion picture
✔ Jaw-dropping twist readers can’t stop talking about
✔ Perfect for fans of domestic thrillers and psychological suspense
Welcome to the Winchester home.
Every day, I clean their stunning house from top to bottom. I cook their meals. I take care of their child. And every night, I retreat to my tiny attic bedroom—locked from the outside.
I try to ignore the unsettling things Nina Winchester does. The cruel games. The lies. The way her husband Andrew watches me with sad, knowing eyes.
I shouldn’t envy her life. Her clothes. Her beautiful home.
But one day, I slip into one of her pristine white dresses—just for a moment.
And everything changes.
Because the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.
And they have no idea what I’m capable of.
Once you start reading, you won’t be able to stop.