Even though the elaborate reference to Bretton Woods appears only beginning Chapter 19, The Visionaries by pre-eminent military historian, James Holland, traces in arresting detail the convulsions, compunctions, and chaos that led to the creation of what arguably has been the most defining economic development shaping the world order post the calamitous World War II.

A haunting and lingering read, The Last Movement by Robert Seethaler is a journey of reflection, remorse and resignation. Gustav Mahler, the Austrian-Bohemian composer and arguably the greatest conductor of his generation finds himself on an Atlantic crossing from New York back to Europe. Swathed in blankets, Mahler sits on the cold and bleak deck of the Amerika, plagued by chills and buffeted by the unforgiving weather.

“When our son was twelve years old, my wife had an affair with a guy called Zach Zirsky, whom she knew from synagogue.” Thus begins the alluringly poignant work by Ben Markovits. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2025, Rest of our Lives, unravels the complex layers of the human life and mind in a measured, … Continue reading The rest of our lives – ben markovits

Purveying the ideology of absurdism, The Stranger is a powerful and unsettling meditation into the philosophies of morality, detachment and societal mores. Monsieur Meursault is a prosaic, staid and uncontroversial individual who goes about his business with neither fanfare not frenzy. His emotional detachment bewilders people around him. His disinterestedness in the world around him is blisteringly encapsulated in the opening words of the book, “Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday; I can’t be sure. The Telegram from the Home says: your MOTHER PASSED FUNERAL TOMORROW. DEEP.”

The Tunnel is the extraordinary breakthrough novel of a Physicist (Doctorate in Physics from the Universidad Nacional de la Plata) turned author, and contemporary of Jorge Luis Borges, Ernesto Sábato. At first glance, the slender volume seems unremarkable enough. Man meets woman, man falls deeply in love with woman, man gets scorned, and man kills woman. But the clinical confession of Castel from the confines of prison sends a shiver down the spine of his reader

The Night Before Christmas is a stirring homage to the untrammelled depths of human imagination. It is absurd, yet arresting, trivial yet tantalising. It is a pre-cursor to an entire generation that churned some of the most memorable fantasies. Gogol is nothing short of an inspiration and a totem pole to a multitude of writers treading his path and aspiring to emulate his exploits.

Winner of the Prix Goncourt (2015) and the Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding (2017), in addition to numerous other plaudits, Mathias Énard returns with his eighth title. The Deserters, an unsettling diptych translated in sparse and raw overtones by Charlotte Mandell.

Dr. Haruto Ikeda, an innately benevolent scientist and a premier figure in the world of virology finds himself more at home sitting at his disorderly and shambolic desk than when digitally rummaging around his laptop. When the Japanese scientist, stumbles, purely by dint of accident upon a deadly document containing stunning details of the intentional … Continue reading Kill Them with Kindness – Will Carver

When wistful nostalgia, longing and restlessness meets the mystical canon of Sufi, the result is an explosive catharsis of human vulnerability, vicissitudes and victory. Bestselling Turkish British novelist Elif Shafik’s latest work is a thoughtfully crafted juxtaposition of metaphysics, love and human relationships. A slim, but arresting book, Forty Rules of Love, expertly intersects the … Continue reading Forty Rules of Love – Elif Shafak

“Walk everyday if you want to stay on this planet” was the simple yet non-nonsense advice imparted to Peter Carpenter by his physiotherapist, coming on the heels of a major heart surgery. The freelance writer, tutor and publisher not only paid complete heed to the instruction but transformed his peripatetic episodes into a memorable garland … Continue reading Bowieland – walking in the footsteps of david bowie