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Recently came across a remark from a British literary agent which emphasized the need for having warehouses for publishers to store unread manuscripts from Indian authors written in English! A certain exaggeration, no doubt, however it does indicate that more Indians than ever before are tapping at computer keyboards to sell stories. Recently, leading publisher Penguin celebrated two decades of business in India, the country with the world’s largest population of people who can speak English. Penguin opened shop in India with seven titles in 1987, but currently has more than 2,000 titles. Penguin India, Asia’s largest English-language publisher, declared that it is targeting US$50 million sales this year.
Having grown up reading honest and delightful novels set in the fictitious southern Indian town of Malgudi and narrated in simple English spiced with his special sardonic brand of humor, R K Narayan has been an eternal favourite of most Indians. He is probably the only Indian author in English whose novels were translated into a hit Hindi movie (Guide) and a prime-time television serial (Malgudi Days). Works from Mulk Raj Anand, Anita Desai, Salman Rushdie and Vikram Seth have been read over and over again by generations. More recently Amitav Ghosh, Jhumpa Lahiri, Arundhati Roy and Vikram Chandra have managed to sustain interest in writings from Indian authors across the World.
On Tolmol, you can find works from all these great Indian authors. Take your pick, find the best price available online and simply order from your favourite seller.
As big-bucks book deal signings fire hopes among India’s English-fiction writing hopefuls, you can be sure that you’ll find the latest on Tolmol. Also imminent are new novels by Amit Chaudhuri and Amitav Ghosh, along with Arundhati Roy’s second novel.