Kishwar Desai's award-winning debut novel,
WITNESS THE NIGHT, has been longlisted for the DSC Prize for the South
Asian Literature 2012 which seeks to showcase the diverse ethnicity,
culture and human stories from the region.
The prize carries a
purse of $50,000 (Rs.23.8 lakh) and the shortlist will be announced Oct
24 in London with the winner being announced January 2012.
Other
books to make the list include 'Jimmy, the Terrorist' by Omair Ahmed,
'Bharatipura' by U.R. Ananthamurthy, 'A Street in Srinagar' by
Chandrakanta and 'Day Scholar' by Siddhartha Chowdhury.
WITNESS
THE NIGHT is published in the UK by Beautiful Books and is sold in:
India (HarperCollins); China (Beijing Jiban); Finland (Like); Germany
(Goldmann ltb); India (Full Circle [Hindi]); Italy (Il Saggiatore);
Hungary (Nouvion); Poland (Zwierciadlo) and Portugal (ASA). The sequel,
BABY LOVE, is due to be published at the beginning of 2012.
More detail on the prize can be found here.
Praise for WITNESS THE NIGHT
Longlisted for Waverton Good Read 2011, Winner of Costa First Novel Award 2010, Longlisted for Man Asian Literary Prize 2009
'No
'next-best-thing' novel has been as literary, bold and compelling as
WITNESS THE NIGHT... it is a taught, gripping and complex thriller with
two enigmatic heroines at its core. Despite its dark subject, this is a
pleasing read, boasting a complex plot made accessible by Desai's very
direct voice and sumptuous prose. Desai has created rich characters and a
thriller about women that speaks to all the sexes. Readers: if you
liked Stieg Larsson's Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, this is the book for
your summer/autumn 2011. I dare you - woman, man, neither or both - not
to love Witness The Night.' -- Abigail Tarttelin, Huffington Post
'Terrific' -- Toby Clements, The Telegraph
'A powerfully-felt, shocking and moving indictment of cruelty and oppression' -- Maggie Gee, author of THE WHITE FAMILY
'Social
justice campaigner Desai's debut novel is very much an issue-based
book, the issue being "gendercide" and, for those girls who survive
birth, oppression in Indian society. Set in Punjab, Witness the Night
begins when 14-year-old Durga is found beaten and tied to a bed inside a
house which contains 13 butchered corpses. Social worker Simran Singh,
independent and scandalously untraditional in her behaviour, is tasked
with getting the mute and traumatised girl, who is suspected of
murdering her relatives, to talk. Singh finds a web of deceit and
corruption as she uncovers the way in which a family has sacrificed its
female members in order to preserve status. There's a bit too much
theorising, but this sad and thought-provoking tale is certainly worth
the read.' -- Laura Wilson, The Guardian
'Very important themes [and a] very appealing central character.' -- Jane Garvey, BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour
'Essential reading.' -- Nihal, BBC Asian Network
'Kishwar
Desai pulls off a remarkable trick, transplanting a country house
murder to modern day India in a book that's not afraid to tackle serious
themes.' -- 2010 Costa First Novel Award
