Novels by Anita Nair
1997 – 2016
Eating Wasps
September 11, 2018
In a small town by the river Nila, a thirty-five-year-old writer kills herself. No one knows why. Fifty-two years later, an antique cupboard in a private resort opens to reveal a frightened child. And the mystery begins to unravel.
Read moreChain Of Custody
July 19, 2016
How is twelve-year-old Nandita’s disappearance connected to the murder of a well-known lawyer? What services has college student Rekha been persuaded to perform by her ‘boyfriend’? Who is the mysterious crime lord lurking just out of sight? And who, just who, is Krishna?It begins as a search for a missing…
Read moreIdris
June 2, 2014
The year is 1659. Idris, a Somali trader, is in Malabar to attend the Zamorin’s Mamangam festivities. Everywhere he goes, his jewelled eye evokes a sense of wonder and incredulity. Then, by a strange twist of fate, Idris meets his nine-year-old son, Kandavar, born of a mysterious midnight tryst in…
Read moreCut Like Wound
November 9, 2011
Introducing Inspector Borei Gowda… It is the first night of Ramadan. At Shivaji Nagar in the heart of Bangalore, a young male prostitute is killed and burnt alive. It would have stayed as yet another unsolved murder, but for Inspector Borei Gowda, the investigating officer. As bodies begin to pile…
Read moreMalabar Mind
May 9, 2011
Malabar Mind heralds the arrival of a major new voice in the ‘meanwhile-back-to-real-life-school-of poetry’ In Malabar Mind, Anita Nair’s debut collection of poems, the real and corporeal, landscapes and mindscapes are explored with a rare fluid ease. From the quirky symbol of toddy shops in Malabar – a full bottle…
Read moreChemmeen
January 9, 2011
First published in 1956, Chemmeen tells the story of the relationship between Karuthamma, a Hindu woman from the fisherfolk community, and Pareekutty, the son of a Muslim fish wholesaler. Knowing that it was a forbidden love, Karuthamma marries Palani, an orphan from another fishing village. Palani and Karuthamma’s marriage is…
Read moreLessons In Forgetting
April 20, 2010
A beautifully told story of redemption, forgiveness and second chances When we first see Meera, she is a carefully groomed corporate wife with a successful career as a writer of cookbooks. Then one day her husband fails to come home after a party and she becomes responsible not just for…
Read moreGoodnight and God Bless
December 21, 2008
A sparkling collection of literary essays, each one a bedtime rumination, Goodnight and God Bless is about books, writers, book events, mice, mothers, airport hotels, the wind and other such unexpectedly thought-provoking subjects, snugly interwoven with a warmly personal and anecdotal history of the author and her assorted family members….
Read moreMagical Indian Myths
June 27, 2008
When Surya the sun god got married his wife could not bear the heat of his rays and ran away. Surya was heartbroken and the world plunged into darkness. A dwarf asked a king for some land, which he measured with three footsteps, and ended up claiming the earth and…
Read moreLiving Next Door To Alise
October 17, 2007
Life will never be the same for Siddharth when he starts living next door to Alise. Nine-year old Siddharth is the despair of his parents. He does not want to run around or climb trees, and he is terrified of ants. Siddharth prefers books to friends and is the target…
Read moreAdventures of Nonu the Skating Squirrel
March 14, 2006
The Squirrel family must move to a new neighbourhood, and Nonus not happy. But soon he discovers that his new home can be fun. With his new friend Nicole, and his brand new skateboard, Nonu is all set to have many adventures. Nonus vibrant world, brought to life by bestselling…
Read moreMistress
March 28, 2005
A searing new novel of art and adultery from the best-selling author of Ladies Coupe When travel writer Christopher Stewart arrives at a riverside resort in Kerala to meet Koman, Radha’s uncle and a famous kathakali dancer, he enters a world of masks and repressed emotions. From their first meeting,…
Read morePuffin Book of World Myths and Legends
October 13, 2004
All the people on earth get together to push the sky up with giant poles because it is too low and they keep bumping their heads against it. The crafty snake gets to know god’s secret message to man and becomes immortal by shedding its skin. An emperor’s sorrow bursts…
Read moreLadies Coupe
May 14, 2001
The story of a woman’s search for strength and independence. Meet Akhilandeshwari, Akhila for short: forty-five and single, an income-tax clerk, and a woman who has never been allowed to live her own life – always the daughter, the sister, the aunt, the provider. Until the day she gets herself…
Read moreThe Better Man
May 16, 2000
The Better Man is set in contemporary India in a little fictitious village called Kaikurussi in the northern part of Kerala . This region was once known as Malabar during the British regime. After Independence, Malabar as a state/region ceased to exist. Though Malabar has no geographical boundaries, no presence…
Read moreSatyr of the Subway & Eleven Other Stories
January 23, 1997
When it was first published in 1997, Satyr of the Subway consisted of twelve stories, each worked around a dramatically different situation ranging from the mundane to the bizarre. This revised edition includes three new stories and incorporates occasional alterations to text. This revised edition includes three new stories and incorporates…
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