Mistress

When travel writer Christopher Stewart arrives at a riverside resort in Kerala to meet Koman, Radha's uncle and a famous Kathakali dancer, he enters a world of masks and repressed emotions. From their first meeting, both Radha and her uncle are drawn to the enigmatic young man with his cello and his incessant questions about the past. The triangle quickly excludes Shyam, Radha's husband, who can only watch helplessly as she embraces Chris with a passion that he has never been able to draw from her. Also playing the role of observer-participant is Koman; his life story, as it unfolds, captures all the nuances and contradictions of the relationships being made - and unmade - in front of his eyes. A brilliant bled of imaginative storytelling and deeply moving explorations into the search for meaning in art and life, Mistress is a literary tour de force from one of India's most exciting writers.

How well can you ever really know someone?As Ben Casper watches his best friend plummet from her sixth-floor apartment balcony, he realises his life is about to change. How well can you ever really know someone?As Ben Casper watches his best friend plummet from her sixth-floor apartment balcony, he realises his life is about to change. Diana had no reason to kill herself, she had to have been pushed.Diana worked for the CIA, so the investigation into her death is kept tightly under wraps. But Ben is a political journalist, and can feel that something isn’t right.Ben starts investigating for himself and soon discovers Diana was leading a double life he knew nothing about. But when more people involved die in questionable circumstances, it’s clear that someone doesn’t want the truth to be uncovered. And unless Ben drops his investigation, he could be next…