Sakina's Kiss

<p><b>From a master of contemporary Indian fiction, an expertly crafted and taut family drama, set over the course of four days. </b><br><br>'A delightful read.' <b>Abraham Verghese</b><br>'Extraordinary.' <b>Geetanjali Shree</b><br>'A writer of rare and wonderful gifts.' <b>Garth Greenwell </b><br>'One of those writers whose voice takes your breath away.' <b>Yiyun Li <br></b><br>A middle-class couple in Bengaluru, Venkat and Viji, find their quiet life upended – and the flaws in their marriage exposed – when two strange young men come knocking at their door one evening, claiming to have business with their daughter, Rekha. Since Rekha, a college senior, happens to be visiting relatives in the countryside, Venkat sends the boys away – but they come back the next day, and this time they’re not alone. <br><br>Venkat begins to fear for his daughter’s safety and is haunted by memories of similar sinister events from his own youth, events that culminated in a betrayal and disappearance he’d prefer to forget. <br><br>As Venkat’s guilt-ridden imagination leaps between knowing and unknowing, evasion and confrontation, Shanbhag reveals not just the tensions in a marriage or a family, but also the fissures of class, politics and threatened violence that can tear communities apart.<br><br>'Tense, taut and compulsively readable.' <b>Deepa Anappara </b><br>'Vivek Shanbhag is probably the best writer writing in any language anywhere.' <b>Mohammed Hanif</b></p>