Anjana Appachana

From the author of Fear and Lovely: "A large book in every sense, a panorama filled with insight and surprise, inviting, absorbing and satisfying." --The Boston Globe

Shortlisted for the Crossword Book Award

In an ordinary New Delhi neighborhood, fatherless twelve-year-old Mallika is full of romantic dreams. Her mother, her mother's friends, her aunt, her grandmother--none of them understand what it means to be passionate, to feel sorrow or excitement, to yearn. Or so she believes.

In truth, these six women have secrets and desires and complicated pasts that Mallika cannot yet comprehend--and their seemingly dull, safe lives are anything but . . .

"An eloquent interweaving of perspectives . . . Appachana succeeds in drawing us deep into this complex vision of shattered happiness and withered dreams." --The New York Times

"Intensely lyrical." --Publishers Weekly

"Appachana can imbue the texture of women's quotidian existence with solidity and substance." --Meenakshi Mukherjee, award-winning author of The Perishable Empire

Praise for Anjana Appachana

"An extremely gifted writer." --Sunday Observer

'Trauma, forgiveness, hope, marriage and the shame around mental health are all explored in this beautiful, complex and funny story set in 1970s New Delhi. It's the first novel from Appachana in 20 years and one to be savoured' - Stylist (Big Fiction Books for 2023)

'Love, longing, terror and healing all come into play in Anjana Appachana's New Delhi set novel, Fear and Lovely' - - The Handbook (a 'best new book release arriving this month')

'Fear and Lovely is one of the best books you'll read this year, next year, last year... A once-in-a-lifetime achievement'
- JUNOT DIAZ

'Some novels melt your heart. For me, this is one of them. Anjana Appachana's Fear and Lovely is beautiful, wise, funny and deeply moving. It's bursting with emotion, truth, secrets and love, all written with such insight and tenderness. I loved it'
- RACHEL ELLIOTT

Mallika is a painfully shy young woman growing up in the heart of a close-knit, sometimes stifling New Delhi colony. Though she is surrounded by love, her life is complicated by secrets that she, her mother and her aunt work hard to keep.

After suffering a trauma aged nineteen, Mallika loses three days of her memory and slowly spirals into a deep depression. She must find a way out of this abyss, back to herself and those she cares about. But she must also hide her mental illness from her community.

In a narrative that unfolds elliptically from the perspectives of Mallika and the seven people closest to her, the astonishing story of these characters' lives emerges. For Mallika's family, childhood friends and the two men she loves are also hiding truths. As each gives voice to contending with their own struggles, secrets and silences shatter.

'It engrossed me totally...Appachana’s writing is eloquent in detail…But the detail illuminates a larger subject and the writing is in service to something greater than the novel – a view of humanity, a sense of what is moral and lasting. “Listening Now” is a large book in every sense, a panorama filled with insight and surprise, inviting, absorbing and satisfying.' THE BOSTON GLOBE.

''Listening Now' is a beautiful read.' REDIFF.

'Anjana Appachana's almost quaint tale fleshes out old stereotypes and stresses the transformative power of storytelling.' THE INDIAN EXPRESS.

'In an eloquent interweaving of perspectives, Appachana’s novel revisits the wrenching episodes at the heart of (her mother) Padma’s “awful silence.” Appachana succeeds in in drawing us deep into this complex vision of shattered happiness and withered dreams.' THE NEW YORK TIMES.

'Anjana Appachana...is an extremely gifted writer, as this first collection of short stories, 'Incantations' show.'
THE SUNDAY OBSERVER.

'Appachana’s approach is…reflective, her fluid, confident prose lending itself to sustained internal monologues…Subtly and skilfully combing comedy with the intimation of tragedy, Appachana’s stories proclaim a versatile and exciting talent.' THE NEW STATESMAN AND SOCIETY.

'...a debut that's delightful if not dazzling...' THE SUNDAY OBSERVER INDIA.

'Appachana's drawings from life are exquisite: finely detailed but not over-worked, and gentle in their comedy.' CRNLE REVIEWS JOURNAL.

'This collection of eight short stories from Indian writer Anjana Appachana demonstrates her ability to dramatise not only the areas of conflict between cultures but, more importantly, those that exist within them, between different generations, sexes and social groups.'
WASAFIRI.

'If you haven't read 'Incantations,' this is the time to buy it, and if you read it when it first came out, re-read it. It has aged very gracefully.' TEHELKA.