BOOKWORM
THE RETURN OF SURRENDER-NOT BANERJEE
The Burning Grounds by Abir Mukherjee, Harvill, 31.99. Absence, they say, makes the heart grow fonder. I’ve enjoyed the Wyndham-Banerjee books from the very first one, A Rising Man, and was disappointed to see Surrender-Not Banerjee sail into the unknown at the end of The Shadows of Men. Was the partnership over and done with?
Abir Mukherjee ventured into a whole new cast of characters, locale and time frame with Hunted which won the Crime Novel of the Year 2025. But he welcomes Banerjee back with his latest, The Burning Grounds.
Meeting the two after a break, I find them so much more fun.
Though, of course, it’s not all fun and games as they re-learn how to navigate their friendship and working relationship.
Especially as Surendranath Banerjee has returned from three years in Europe with a new resolve to help gain India’s independence and not work with or for the British, and their views on the other’s countrymen remain largely unchanged.
“They could do whatever they wanted, but if we complained, we were the ones being unreasonable,” thinks Banerjee.
While Sam Wyndham believes that “There are always protests in Calcutta, mainly because Bengalis like to make a nuisance of themselves”.
Will they be able to put their differences aside to solve the murder of a man who was, by all accounts, loved by all? So what was the motive for his murder?
Wyndham and Banerjee find themselves thrust into the glamorous world of Indian cinema.
CR Das, Jatin Sengupta and his wife Nellie – real life heroes of the Independence movement – figure in the narrative that the Sunday Express describes as the perfect combination of mystery and history.
POWER SHIFT
We Dance Upon Demons by Vaishnavi Patel, Saga Press, $27. As a reproductive healthcare worker in Chicago, Nisha is barely staying afloat.
When a supervisor insists she take a few hours to “center” herself, she visits an Indian art exhibit at her favourite museum. And suddenly finds herself bleeding, disoriented and collapsed on the ground. The last thing she remembers is the statue that beckons her to touch it.
In the days that follow, Nisha feels a strange power coursing within her. She worries that she has a brain tumour. No, that’s last month’s Grey’s Anatomy binge talking.
Fighting depression and those who gather in large numbers each day to threaten the staff and clients at the clinic, she now has to deal with a host of dangerous and enigmatic characters who covet her new power.
Will her Aai’s prayers protect her? Will her dance imbue her with new energy? Will her friend Shreya’s research provide new insights? Or will Chandini, Usha, Tara, Laila, or Heera, the women whose stories she learns, show her the way?
Apasmara, Muyalagan, myths and demons...both ancient and modern, fuel the urgent tale by the New York Times bestselling author of Kaikeyi.
And little details make it real. Like the uncle at the Indian grocery store who asks, “Running late, dear?”. She knows him well enough to understand it stems from concern, not judgement.
LYING IN WAIT
The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan, Viking, $37.99. Akbar Manzil was once a grand estate off the coast of South Africa. Now, nearly a century after it was built, it stands in ruins, an isolated boarding house for misfits seeking to forget their pasts.
Sana and her father are the latest in a long list of tenants, in search of a new home after a painful loss. She is irresistibly drawn to the eerie and forgotten east wing of the mansion and to the locked door at its end, unopened for a century.
Behind the door is a bedroom frozen in time, faded photographs of a couple in love and a worn diary.
Shubnum Khan spins a haunting, atmospheric Gothic tale about the djin that haunts the mansion and the girl who unearths the tragedy that took place a hundred years ago.
RED-HANDED
Black River by Nilanjana Roy, Pushkin Press, $24.95. In the quiet village of Teetarpur, a child is found dead, hanging from a jamun tree. Suspicion in the mainly Hindu community quickly falls on a vagrant Muslim man.
As grief turns to anger and threatens to explode into violence, it’s up to sub-inspector Ombir Singh to uncover the truth before the villagers take justice into their own hands.
A book described as “A riveting murder mystery” by Kiran Desai, and one that is dedicated to “father and friend who always let me raid his bookshelves” falls firmly in the must-read category.
A DANGEROUS WEB
Spider by Azma Dar, Datura, $32.99. When her missing husband is found dead in a car crash far from home, aspiring actress Sophie falls under suspicion.
What really happened to Tariq? To get to the truth, Sophie must open the old wounds of her previous marriages and uncover long-kept secrets. Amir, the first love. Faraz, the rebound. And Tariq, the soulmate.
Sophie herself is guilty of something, but is murder part of the ambition? The intricate web of lies is drawing tighter.
FINDING HERSELF
I Did Not Survive. I Just Refused To Stop. by MissFit, Amazon Paperback, $26.67. MissFit Writes is an independently published author, whose debut book, I Did Not Survive. I Just Refused To Stop is a hybrid of essays, poetry, and personal reflection exploring desi Muslim womanhood, identity, faith, grief, beauty standards, marriage expectations, belonging, and cultural pressure.
The chosen pen name, MissFit, and the disclaimer provide more than a hint of what’s in store. MissFit accepts no responsibility for (among other things): Sudden urges to throw your stilettos out the window.
Existential crisis triggered by the marriage checklist.
The overwhelming desire to separate your own tomatoes (a lovely anecdote later in the book explains this!).
And so on.
Born into “a very normal, traditional, cultural and educated family” a young woman struggles to fit into the rigid moulds women are expected to occupy mindlessly. Because “Shhhhh. Good girls don’t talk”. Or question.
We buy shoes that make walking harder.
Bags that make us poorer.
Products that make us doubt ourselves.
Some go along quietly, perhaps even enthusiastically, but there must be others who want to revolt, buck the trend. Who cringe when they hear songs like Aapki nazaron ne samjha pyaar ke kabil mujhe (you deemed me worthy of love).
MissFit was one of those. Realizing that “The noise you choose outside is directly proportional to the void inside,” she chose to follow her own path.
Because “You can lie down flat for people to walk all over you and you will never be flat enough for them”.
I Did Not Survive. I Just Refused To Stop is a collection of thoughts and astute observations. A note to self and to countless other women who dare to question.
A LOVE LIKE THIS
A Great Marriage by Frances Mayes, Ballantine Books, $25.99. A great marriage is an elusive thing and only a few people know the secret to making one.
Dara Wilcox, an American law student and Austin Clarke, visiting from London feel an instant connection.
They are determined to make their lives together happen, no matter their differences.
But at their engagement party, he hears unsettling news from London that wrecks their plans and she abruptly cancels the wedding. Without revealing the reason to anyone.
She escapes to California. He faces a major tragedy. Will her mother’s impulsive visit to London change anything?
If you loved Under A Tuscan Sun as much as most people did, you’re in for a treat with this book by the same bestselling author.
WHERE’S THE LOO?
Hindi English Bilingual Visual Dictionary, DK, $23.99. In our days, as people of my vintage are prone to say, we didn’t have books like this!
In our days, we had the popular series Learn (insert name of language) Through English in 30 Days. They were useful, no doubt, and one pictured hapless tourists clutching copies as they navigated new places.
But leafing through a copy for learning Hindi that I picked up for a Hindi-challenged friend, I was astonished to find “I suffer from severe constipation – Mujhe sakht kabz ki shikayat hai” in the section on health and hygiene. Who is likely to share this helpful piece of information with a stranger? Because if you knew them, you’d likely share a language.
So no, we didn’t have books like the one I am holding. Also divided into sections on people, appearance, health, home, services, shopping, food, etc., this one includes pronunciation tips and a free audio app.
It also has words that are new to me, someone fluent in Hindi. Katiparak ksetr (Which I would have spelt kshetr) for small of the back. And words like chikitsak for doctor, when most people would likely use daaktar!
While groceries are Food hall, women’s wear is Mahila paridhan.
That said, a fun, interactive way to learn a new language, enough to get by, in case you need to locate a washroom in a hurry!
AGAINST ALL ODDS
The Bicycle Girl by Garen Thomas and Suhasini Raj, illustrated by Maithili Joshi, Candle-wick Press, $26.99. The story of Jyoti Kumari is an inspiring and true story of a young girl on a mission to save her father and bring him home against all odds.
Photographs from her scrapbook make this heartwarming tale extra special.
MONKEY BUSINESS
Grumpy Monkey Mine! by Suzzane Lang, illustrated by Max Lang, Random House Studio, $12.50. Jim Panzee (you’ve got to love the name!) picks the very last banana on the tree.
And then he drops it.
Warthog claims it is his, because he found it.
Whose banana is it?
TEEN REVIEW
By NIHARIKA DILIP
House of the Beast by Michelle Wong, Harper Voyager, $42. Opening House of the Beast by Michelle Wong feels like stepping into a cathedral built of shadow and starlight, where vengeance and divinity dance a dangerous waltz.
In her debut novel, Michelle Wong presents a gothic fantasy brimming with gods, sacrifice, and a young woman bound by blood and power.
Wong’s prose and illustrations conjure a vivid world of noble houses, sacred and profane rituals, looming decrees of ancient beings. What stands out is her portrayal of the central bond; not a conventional romance, but a haunting, complicated tether between mortal and deity, love and manipulation. Wong’s control over tone and atmosphere marks her as a voice worth watching.
The quiet intensity and underlying danger recall The Queen’s Assassin by Melissa de la Cruz, though Wong’s tale moves with darker grace and more mythic weight. Both explore loyalty, secrecy, and the cost of duty, but House of the Beast turns those themes inward, asking what one is willing to surrender for power or love.
House of the Beast is a richly wrought, unsettling fantasy that resists simple categories. If you’re drawn to worlds where beauty conceals brutality and love hides claws, this book will linger in your mind long after you turn the final page.
• Niharika Dilip is a youth volunteer at Brampton Library.