On The Racks

Farhat Nasreen
If History Has Taught Us Anything | Rupa

The author explores the lives of historical figures such as Humayun, Sher Shah Suri and Vikramaditya, who have been overshadowed by their more famous contemporaries. She delves into the themes of amibition, deceit and wisdom against the backdrop of popular history to explore the emperors’ “human side”. The book concludes with interviews of renowned historians and their engagement with the subject.

Ed. by Preeti Gill
She Stoops To Kill | Speaking Tiger

These “stories of crime and passion”, all by women authors, have Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Ruth Rendell and P.D. James as models. Each story centres on homicide(s), and range from the convincingly set, but clumsily written one by Mitra Phukan to Janice Pariat’s gentle exposition and Manjula Padmanabhan’s edgy residence in a serial killer’s mind.

K.L. Chowdhury
Room In Our Hearts & Other Stories | Bloomsbury

This collection of short stories by a Kashmir-born, Jammu-based physician recounts tales of Pandits forced into exile, their quest to find their moorings, the people they left behind and the bonds that connect them. Chowdhury draws richly from the history and culture of the Pandits and the syncretic traditions underpinning Kashmiri society.