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Saraswati

An Observer Best Debut Novel 2025

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Pub Date Jun 12 2025 | Archive Date Not set

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Description

* AN INDEPENDENT BEST BOOK OF 2025 * A GUARDIAN BOOK TO LOOK FORWARD TO * As a holy river returns, seven lives change course in this masterpiece debut for fans of David Mitchell, Zadie Smith and Eleanor Catton 'Saraswati most certainly delivers, darting thrillerishly around the world to fold chewy themes of empire, populism and global warming into a cross-generational epic centred on seven strangers' OBSERVER, Best New Novelists for 2025 'Saraswati is a major achievement, and Johal a huge talent. This should be one of the biggest novels of the year' Martin MacInnes, Booker-longlisted author of In Ascension Centuries ago, the myths say, the holy river Saraswati flowed through what is now Northern India. But when Satnam arrives in his ancestral village for his grandmother's funeral, he is astonished to find water in the long-dry well behind her house. The discovery sets in motion a contentious scheme to unearth the lost river and build a gleaming new city on its banks, and Satnam - adrift from his job, girlfriend and flat back in London - soon finds himself swept up in this ferment of Hindu nationalist pride. As the river alters Satnam's course, so it reveals buried ties to six distant relatives scattered across the globe - from an ambitious writer with her eye on legacy to a Kenyan archaeologist to a Bollywood stunt double - who are brought together in a rapidly changing India. Brimming with love, lush, violence and loss, Gurnaik Johal's magisterial debut deftly animates the passions that bind us to our histories, our lands and each other.

* AN INDEPENDENT BEST BOOK OF 2025 * A GUARDIAN BOOK TO LOOK FORWARD TO * As a holy river returns, seven lives change course in this masterpiece debut for fans of David Mitchell, Zadie Smith and...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781788169486
PRICE £16.99 (GBP)
PAGES 384

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Featured Reviews

Saraswati by Gurnaik Johal is a deeply ambitious, epic tale which is yet intimate and beautiful. There are seven stories here which span the globe but all of which connect back to India. Early reviews have compared this to David Mitchell, Eleanor Catton and Zadie Smith - this gives an indication of how incredibly well written Saraswati is. Gurnaik Johal is definitely one to watch. If at times the novel feels like it is over-reaching, or becoming too ambitious to contains itself, Johal masterfully brings it back from the brink, and back to something human and real. I very much loved reading this novel, and will definitely be watching out for more from it's author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

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