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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5 February 2021

What I'm Reading


Slow posting here because I was rereading Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra for the third time, having suddenly developed a yen for Indian police procedural. This is the best example of that genre and it's more than just a police procedural, you're also in the mind of gangster Ganesh Gaitonde, his rise and fall, his surprisingly rich inner life mirroring Inspector Sartaj Singh, who is tired of policework even as he does it, and in working to find Gaitonde's last mystery, becomes a happier person. It's a hefty book, hard on the wrists, filled with stories from Partition down. Primarily it's a book about the psychology of people, so many people, and if you're interested in how people think, then this is a good novel for you. I also read The Good Girls, Sonia Faleiro's most recent book, got it almost as soon as it was available on the Kindle store. I've been drawn even more to stories about India, especially stories about people I don't generally come across in my day to day. I loved this book, an exploration of all the events that unfolded before and around two girls in Badaun were found hanging from a tree. Normally when you read a non fiction book about a certain kind of India, a non-PLU India, the author always inserts themselves in it, like I did this and then I did that and instead Sonia tells it all in sympathetic third person, referring throughout to the victims as "the children" so it's like we're there, we're talking to their families, we're thinking about the lives of these girls, who were, after all, only children when their lives ended. I think you should definitely read this too, it's gripping and tragic. #sacredgames #vikramchandra #soniafaleiro #thegoodgirls #bookstagram #mrmbookclub #121in2021

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