8 Fiction Titles That Make The Cities They Are Set In A Pivotal Character

One of my all-time favourite books, The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee is set in Calcutta of 1960s and 1970s, following the lives of the Ghosh family, an upper-class family that gets its wealth running successful paper mills. Mukherjee shows the reader his character's lives so skilfully that it almost seems like there is no authorial voice. He switches from one voice to the next with bewildering ease and depth. The five floors of the house are occupied by the four children and the parents, each having their own little world. Be it Purnima's dissatisfaction with her husband, Priyo's apathy towards his wealth and his sexual predilections, Praffulnath's longing for youth, Charubala's rage at their slipping wealth, Purba's grief, her sons' ambition, Chayya's shame at her appearance, Adinath's loss of control over his son, or his son Supratnik's political rebellion,  Mukherjee brings the political into the home with such finesse that we see the city's politics play out in those five floors. The food, the language, the juxtaposing of Supratnik's family fighting the unionising workers, and him joining the ranks of CPI(M) against his family's protests, keep you hooked from page one, even though the book is quiet long.

Other Kolkata Books: The Heart Asks for Pleasure by Karuna Ezra, A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

Considered to be a 'definitive book on Bangalore' Neti, Neti follows the life of Sophie, a 25-year-old who has just moved to Bangalore in search for work and takes us through the city—the outsourcing offices, the bars, the call centres, rock concerts, the streets at night, and the homes of the newly rich. In awe of the life she now leads, Hasan not only tells the story of a young woman finding her place in the world, and increasingly losing grip on who is really is, it also tells us the story of Bangalore finding its identity as a young city. It tells a tale that all of us are sadly very familiar with: surviving in a late capitalist world, where the unending search for money is supposed to take us to our destination—ultimate happiness—but only makes us more and more alienated, jaded, and losing grip on what really matters. The book is absolutely unputdownable. 

Other Bangalore Books: The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay 

There are about a 100 books written about the Maximum City, and this latest addition to the list has quickly gone to the top of my Bombay-books list. Thayil, an accomplished postmodern poet, writes of opium and Mumbai, in a style that reads very much like verse and builds a world that you do not want to leave, much like a good high. He tells the story of Rashid, the opium house's owner, Dimple, the eunuch, and Mr Lee, who fled communist China and has stories to tell with delicate tenderness and nuance. Set against the backdrop of the city that never sleeps, the characters have to confront their lives changing forever after heroin reached Mumbai and all their regulars start switching, all of it against the backdrop of communal riots, murder and chaos. Thayil brings an autobiographical lens to the story because of his own struggles with addiction and says that he decided to call the book Narcopolis  'because Bombay seemed to me a city of intoxication, where the substances on offer were drugs and alcohol, of course, but also god, glamour, power, money and sex.'

Other Bombay Books: Milk Teeth by Amrita Mahale, Paper Moon by Rehana Munir, Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, Scared Games by Vikram Chandra, Manjhi's Mayhem by Tanuj Solanki  

There is no other Delhi book I love more than this and I have good reason for it; the 1857 mutiny, Mughal Delhi, and Ghalib as detective. After a fellow poet is found stabbed after a mushaira, Ghalib, with the help of Ramchandra, who is his forensic expert and his moral compass, has to find the murderer while juggling a nawab who hates him, nosy company officers and the last of the court poets. But my favourite thing about this book is how Mir writes Ghalib. Mir's Ghalib is extremely relatable—worried about money, a loving husband, a great brother, funny, scared, confused, morally lax, and always doing menial chores. A lot of Ramchandra and Ghalib's conversations about the case happen while he is visiting the dhobi, or the kinara store, or doing house chores. Mir takes his time to build his wold and his characters, and that can read as slow to some, but the payoff is huge, so stick with it. You are bound to fall in love with the city because like Ghalib says,  '...the world is a body and Delhi its soul.'

Other Delhi Books: Corridors by Sarnath Banerjee, Equations by Shivani Sibal, Delhi: A Novel by Khushwant Singh 

Roy's debut novel, in my opinion, is her best. She has written many non-ficiton titles since then and her last fiction title, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, but nothing comes close to the literary brilliance of God of Small Things. Following the story of two fraternal twins, Rahel and Esthe, the story takes place in Ayemenem, a small coastal town in Kerala. Through a sequence of flashbacks, flashforwards, interior monologue and dream sequences, tells the tragic story of the twins who were involved in the accidental drowning of their cousin, and reunite as deeply damaged adults. The book weaves stories with delicate intricacy, where Roy shows how individual loss, tragedy and the seemingly small things frame people and have a profound effect on every relationship they enter into. Not only does the tale capture the atmosphere of the small coastal town, the prose is so good that sometimes you have to keep the book down and take a beat because of how enchantingly dizzying it can get.

Other Kerala Books: Small Town Sea by Anees Salim, Litanies of Dutch Battery by N.S. Mahadevan 

Called one of the most ambitious debut novels, Swarup's Latitudes of Longing is better described as four short stories, since the intersections happen rarely, and only in small occurrences. But that is the only critique I have of the book. Beautifully written, the book is divided into four parts. 'Islands', 'Faultlines', 'Valley' and 'Snow Dessert'. If nothing else, I recommend you reach the first part. 'Islands' is set in post-Independence Andaman Islands, and follows the life of Girija, India's first commonwealth scholar who has been sent there by Nehru to set up the National Forestry Service and wife Chandra, both of whom have conflicting beliefs. While Girija asking scientific questions about the origins of the species found in Andamans, Chandra talks to the ghosts of the island, both tracing the history of the islands, and the many invasions it has seen—the Japanese, the British, and then finally the Indians. They both find that while their approaches are different, they are complimentary and that 'neither can make it alone'. Swarup's use of silences, and the supernatural and her flowing prose tell us how nothing and everything ever remains unchanged. 

Set against the backdrop of the insurgency of Assam, Phukan takes us through the life of Rukmini, and the inescapable political realities of Assam. On the outside of it all, Rukmini's life seems ideal—a government bungalow, all the privileges of being the wife of a government officer, and a husband who is a good man. But on the inside, things are wildly different. Rukmini is lonely, looking for companionship, some purpose and witness to the violence of the insurgency. Her want of having a child is only met by her husband's rejection. There a small sliver of hope when she meets Mohan, and they build a relationship of tender passion and friendship, but everything is soon struck by reality when both her husband and Mohan get caught in the political violence of the region. Phukan writes a narrative that is nuanced, treats its subjects delicately and yet is fast-paced. It is a book you will want to finish in one sitting. 

Other Assam Books:  Swarnlata by Tilottamma Misra, Chinatown Days by Rita Chowdury 

Pagan, a 20-year-old and the last descendant of the Miranda Flores family moves to Goa and begins to unravel the history of her family. And saying anything more would spoil the book for you, because it is in his little details that she unravels lies the beauty of the book. Mascerhnas writes an inter-generational tale with poise, and explores the idea of loss, family, legacy and identity masterfully. And in this tracing of her family history, we get a look into the deep history of Goa, starting from the seventeenth century, and the sense of community etched into the culture of Goa. 

Other Goa Books: Afterlife: Ghost Stories From Goa by Jessica Faleiro, Sylvia by Maithreyi Karnoor