My latest book is The One Who Swam With The Fishes.

"A mesmerizing account of the well-known story of Matsyagandha ... and her transformation from fisherman’s daughter to Satyavati, Santanu’s royal consort and the Mother/Progenitor of the Kuru clan." - Hindustan Times

"Themes of fate, morality and power overlay a subtle and essential feminism to make this lyrical book a must-read. If this is Madhavan’s first book in the Girls from the Mahabharata series, there is much to look forward to in the months to come." - Open Magazine

"A gleeful dollop of Blytonian magic ... Reddy Madhavan is also able to tackle some fairly sensitive subjects such as identity, the love of and karmic ties with parents, adoption, the first sexual encounter, loneliness, and my favourite, feminist rage." - Scroll



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6 December 2020

What I'm Reading


Initially, I've gotta say, I didn't think I'd read this book. JK Rowling went from being an author I admire to one I'm appalled by. It was also how she dug in her heels about her TERF opinions, how she refused to admit she might be even a little bit wrong. This is the woman who constructed a magical world where people who were different could still have equal rights, and yet, and yet. But by now I was invested in Cormoran Strike, she can plot like a bitch so her stories are always gripping and I have to admit, after I saw this one review that said her TERFy views carried over to the book, I was curious to see how bad it could be. ***MILD SPOILERS AHEAD, STOP READING HERE *** There is a transvestite villain who lures women into a sense of false confidence by dressing in women's clothes which is just some regressive 1970s bullshit typecasting there. Not even Strike or Robin turn to the reader and say during all this, okay but this is fucked up. There's no explanation offered for his behaviour except that he's a sociopath and at this point you might say, "But M, she's allowed to not explain why the serial killer is the way he is" to which I say this is a book that is 40% longer than it needs to be, because it dwells so endlessly on all sorts of things, most irritatingly Strike and Robin doing day to day shit and thinking endlessly about their relationship. Ufff, I JUST WANT MY MURDER MYSTERY, why do I need to read ENDLESS internal monologues about their well being. It could have been at least 200 pages shorter and that's a fact. Should you read it? Eh, I don't know. If you're curious maybe. It's looooong so it will take you a good chunk of time and I'm not sure the pay off is worth it, even as a committed Strike fan, because you might wind up hating them all in the end. (Robin grows more and more irritating.) Off to cleanse my palate with the new Tana French now. #bookstagram #troubled blood #robertgalbraith #120in2020

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