{"title":"August Staff Picks","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0582\/1048\/4393\/files\/Augstaffpicks.png?v=1785516971\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur shelves are filled with wonderful books - but these are the ones our team couldn't stop talking about. Each month we handpick a small collection of stories that moved us, surprised us, or simply stayed with us long after the last page.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe hope one of them becomes your next favorite read\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHappy Reading!\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"13060-the-last-song-of-dusk","title":"The Last Song of Dusk","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAuthor: Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Penguin\/Viking\u003cbr\u003eYear: 2004\u003cbr\u003eLanguage: English\u003cbr\u003ePages: 298\u003cbr\u003eISBN\/UPC (if available): 0670057681\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e Description\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePirouetting between laughter and tears, Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi’s technicolour debut tells the story of four extraordinary lives. Of Anuradha Gandharva, gifted with astonishing beauty and magical songs; of her husband, Vardhmaan, struggling with secret losses; of Nandini, a deviously alluring artist, with a penchant for panthers and walking on water; and of Shloka, the Gandharvas delicate, disturbingly silent child.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs their fates unravel in an old villa in 1920s India, they learn to navigate the ever-changing landscape of love, and in doing so encounter a host of eccentrics: Mr Bunkusdaas, the father of Bollywood cinema; Stella Dimm, England’s first ever Tit girl; Libya Dass, rarely seen out of her porcelain bathtub; and Percival Worthington, the aristocratically limp son of the governor of Bombay, on whom Nandini rashly sets her sights.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Last Song of Dusk is a tale of exquisite friendships, immense sacrifices and dangerous desires. Told with tenderness and with dazzling wit, it will haunt you long after you have turned the final page.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eREVIEWS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA colourful first novel, what begins as an erotic fairy tale grows into an exploration of love and loss, sexuality and innocence, friendship and solitude, Shanghvi’s loose, poetic style, is cut with a dash of magical realism, and his story has eloquent insights into the nature of love.\u003cbr\u003e-The Times Literary Supplement\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e2004’s hottest literary sensation.\u003cbr\u003e-India Today\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA magical debut, Madcap characters shimmy across the pages, throwing out slangy witticisms with insouciant charm, but underneath the glitz the mood is mythically melancholy, Delicious.\u003cbr\u003e-Elle\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The India Club","offers":[{"title":"Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi \/ Penguin\/Viking \/ Hardcover","offer_id":40776295022761,"sku":"13060","price":32.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0582\/1048\/4393\/files\/lastsong.png?v=1785517387"},{"product_id":"18594-the-royal-ghosts-stories","title":"The Royal Ghosts - Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAuthor: Samrat Upadhyay\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Rupa\u003cbr\u003eYear: 2006\u003cbr\u003eLanguage: English\u003cbr\u003ePages: 207\u003cbr\u003eISBN\/UPC (if available): 8129109158\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e Description\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith emotional precision and narrative subtlety, this volume  features characters trying to reconcile their true desires with the forces at work in Nepali society. Against the backdrop of the violent Maoist insurgencies that have claimed thousands of lives, these characters struggle with their duties to their aging parents, an oppressive caste system, and the complexities of arranged marriage. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the end, they manage to find peace and connection, often where they least expect it-with the people directly in front of them. These stories brilliantly examine not only Kathmandu during a time of political crisis and cultural transformation but also the effects of that city on the individual consciousness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eREVIEWS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLike William Trevor, Samrat Upadhyay compresses into a short story the breadth of vision and human consequence we expect of a novel, and he does so in a prose that seems as natural as breathing. It there were an author of the universe who bestowed on us the tender regard that Upadhyay bestows on his struggling people, we would be blessed indeed.\u003cbr\u003e-Scott Tussell Sanders, author of A Private History of Awe\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eElegant, rich, and pleasing, the stories of The Royal Ghosts will haunt readers long after the book is finished. These are tales of both the individual and the society, conveying a measured, transcendental gaze at the nature of the world.\u003cbr\u003e-Diana Abu-Jaber, author of The Language of Baklava\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUpadhyay is like a Buddhist Chekov … startlingly good.\u003cbr\u003e-San Francisco Chronicle\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eABOUT THE AUTHOR:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSAMRAT UPADHYAY is the author of Arresting God in Kathmandu, which earned him a Whiting Award, and The Guru of Love, which was a New York times Notable book, a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year, and a finalist for the Kiriyama Prize. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eContents\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA Refugee\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Wedding Hero\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Third Stage\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSupreme Pronouncements\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Weight of a Gun\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChintamani’s Women\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFather, Daughter\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA Servant in the City\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Royal Ghosts\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The India Club","offers":[{"title":"Samrat Upadhyay \/ Rupa \/ Paperback","offer_id":40776428880041,"sku":"18594","price":16.4,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0582\/1048\/4393\/files\/royalghosts.png?v=1785517462"},{"product_id":"6637-a-new-world","title":"A New World","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAuthor: Amit Chaudhuri\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Picador India\u003cbr\u003eYear: 2000\u003cbr\u003eLanguage: English\u003cbr\u003ePages: 200\u003cbr\u003eISBN\/UPC (if available): 0330351060\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e Description\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow available in paper back edition, this novel is the story of an ordinary man's wry acceptance of a sense of failure. It is also a generous, unsentimental and often moving account of the life as lived.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA New World is a story of Jayojit, a semi successful writer, now divorced, has finally retrieved his son Bonny for his summer holidays. They are leaving their home in American Midwest and going back to Calcutta, to his grandparents, the Admiral and his wife.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA New World watches Jayojit and his son as they share the dark, close flat with his parents while the city outside is blanketed in fierce summer heat. Amit Chaudhuri delineates with breathtaking delicacy the details of married lives - of an elderly couple entrenched in the unquestioning roles of their past and of a modern marriage now sharply severed in two.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePRAISE FOR THE BOOK:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA very clever, very successful piece of work.  It is beautifully, quietly written.  You read it thinking Amit Chaudhuri has hit the target . . Never wordy, the writhing feeds complexities into the characters with subtle clarity. Here is a wonderful book in plain English, which deserves to be enthusiastically accepted. - Spectator\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChaudhuri beautiful fourth novel offers delicate tableaux vivants. It whispers its visions to us with an eerie intimacy and power. But what most distinguishes A New World is not its narrative contours, but its repose.  It is a gentle book of tremendous patience and sensitivity.  - Times Literary Supplement\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe brilliance of his words lie in their sheer simplicity.  A skilful writer, he effortlessly blurs the boundary of time and space . . Chaudhuri's controlled writing, which is also very lyrical, firmly places him among the front-runners of contemporary Indo-Anglican writers. - Asian Age\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChaudhuri holds our attention with unobtrusive evocation of place, texture and humanity.   - Economist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe is minimal, unobtrusive and precise with words and yet is able to load them with a languorous cadence that is unmistakably intrinsically romantic.  - Statesman\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShort, controlled and fiercely witty . . Its structure is linear and taut; its gaze has a new maturity. - Independent\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The India Club","offers":[{"title":"Amit Chaudhuri \/ Picador India \/ Paperback","offer_id":40776674508969,"sku":"6637","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0582\/1048\/4393\/files\/newworld.png?v=1785517559"},{"product_id":"24044-the-japanese-wife","title":"The Japanese Wife","description":"\u003cp\u003eAuthor: Kunal Basu\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: HarperCollins\u003cbr\u003eYear: 2008\u003cbr\u003eLanguage: English\u003cbr\u003ePages: 202\u003cbr\u003eISBN\/UPC (if available): 9788172237332\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e Description\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn Indian man writes to a Japanese woman. She writes back. The pen friends fall in lover and exchange their vows over letters, then live as man and wire without ever setting eyes on each other - their intimacy of words rested finally by life's miraculous upheavals.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe twelve stories in this collection are about the unexpected. An American professor visits India with the purpose of committing suicide, and goes on a desert journey with the daughter of a snake charmer. A honeymooning Indian couple is caught up in the Tiananmen Square unrest. A Russian prostitute discovers her roots in the company of Calcutta revolutionaries. A holocaust victim stands tall among strangers in a landscape of hate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese are chronicles of memory and dreams born at the crossroads of civilization. They parade a case of angels and demons rubbing shoulders with those whose lives are never quite as ordinary as they seem.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eREVIEWS \u0026amp; COMMENTS:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt's an improbable and hauntingly beautiful love story, almost surreal in its innocence. And I immediately knew that this was the film I had to make.\u003cbr\u003e- Aparna Sen\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContents\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Japanese Wife\u003cbr\u003eGrateful Ganga\u003cbr\u003eLenin's Café\u003cbr\u003eLotus-Dragon\u003cbr\u003eSnake charmer\u003cbr\u003eLong Live Imelda Marcos\u003cbr\u003eThe Accountant\u003cbr\u003eTiger! Tiger!\u003cbr\u003eFather Tito's Onion Rings\u003cbr\u003eMiss Annie\u003cbr\u003eThe Last Dalang\u003cbr\u003eThe Pearl fisher\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The India Club","offers":[{"title":"Kunal Basu \/ HarperCollins \/ Hardcover","offer_id":40785724866729,"sku":"24044","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0582\/1048\/4393\/files\/japanesewife.png?v=1785517660"},{"product_id":"parashuram-selected-stories","title":"Parashuram: Selected Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003eProduct ID: 898912\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTitle: Parashuram: Selected Stories\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Parashuram (Rajshekhar Basu\/Bose)\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTranslators: Sukanta Chaudhuri \u0026amp; Palash Baran Pal\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Penguin\u003cbr\u003eLanguage: English, translated from Bengali\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Paperback\u003cbr\u003ePages: 306\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 978-0143062202\u003cbr\u003eYear of Publication: 2006\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDescription:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eParashuram: Selected Stories brings together some of the finest works of one of Bengal's most celebrated humorists and satirists, Rajshekhar Bose\/Basu, who wrote under the pen name Parashuram. Filled with wit, irony, and unforgettable characters, these stories brilliantly capture the quirks of everyday life while offering sharp observations on society, human nature, and the changing world of twentieth-century India.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDiscover eccentric adventures in \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Magic Stone\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e, unravel the mystery of \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDoctor Jadu's Patient\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e, laugh through the unexpected twists of \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChoosing a Husband\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e, marvel at the imagination behind \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Celestial Slipper\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e, and enjoy the clever satire of \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Custard-Apple Pudding\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e. Whether the tale explores science, superstition, medicine, or human folly, every story is infused with intelligence, humor, and timeless charm.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeautifully translated by \u003cstrong\u003eSukanta Chaudhuri\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003ePalash Baran Pal\u003c\/strong\u003e, this Penguin Modern Classics edition introduces English readers to one of India's finest masters of the short story.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePerfect for readers who enjoy witty classics, literary fiction, and stories that surprise, amuse, and linger long after the final page.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhy We Love It at India Club\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of Bengal's greatest humorists and storytellers, Parashuram delights readers with sharp wit, unforgettable characters, and stories where the ordinary suddenly becomes extraordinary.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48495796388085,"sku":null,"price":22.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0582\/1048\/4393\/files\/parashuram.png?v=1785516446"}],"url":"https:\/\/indiaclub.com\/collections\/august-staff-picks.oembed","provider":"The India Club","version":"1.0","type":"link"}