Scroll’s June 1, 2025 reading list highlights six fiction titles by Indian writers exploring the less visible pressures of everyday life. The books range from two translated novels to a short-story collection, with plots touching on rural survival, displacement, violence, healing, family conflict and ambition. The descriptions below reflect the publisher-sourced summaries in Scroll’s feature, not independent reviews or a current release calendar.
Six books, compared
| Title | Author and language | Format | Premise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tiger Lessons | Sannapureddy Venkatarami Reddy; translated from Telugu by Narasimha Kumar | Novel | Engineer-trained Ravi finds himself herding his family’s sheep in the hills, where a tiger threatens the flock. |
| Nowhere People | Manoranjan Byapari; translated from Bengali by Anchita Ghatak | Novel | Among people living around Jadavpur station, rickshaw driver Nobo finds an abandoned infant and takes responsibility for the child. |
| The Fantastic Affair of Despair | Doorva Devarshi | Novel | A woman leaves her work at a postcolonial magazine after an act of extreme violence and encounters a child-bride and a valley shaped by violence and development ambitions. |
| Cracks in the Wall | Neera Kashyap | Short-story collection | Stories address efforts to heal from mental, family and social struggles. |
| Death of a Gentleman | Riva Razdan | Novel | After startup founder Yuvraaj Khanna’s estranged father dies, a murder investigation unsettles the success story and exposes rivalries around status and ambition. |
| Saraswati | Gurnaik Johal | Novel | Satnam returns from London for his grandmother’s funeral and discovers water in a long-dry well, prompting a contested plan to uncover a lost river and build a city. |
Scroll’s feature, published June 1, 2025, says its information is sourced from publishers. The premises are therefore best read as descriptions of the books, not as independently assessed criticism. Read the original feature.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (National Book Award Winner) | $9.08 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
|
The Only Good Indians: A Novel | $9.34 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
|
Five Little Indians: A Novel | $12.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
|
The Great Indian Novel | $19.96 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
|
Indian Horse: A Novel | $9.48 | Buy on Amazon |
Rural survival and urban precarity
Tiger Lessons
Ravi’s shift from engineering training to tending his family’s sheep puts the divide between an intended career and physical work at the centre of the premise. The tiger makes that conflict immediate: the herd’s safety and Ravi’s own survival depend on responding to danger in the hills.
Nowhere People
The novel turns to people uprooted and living in squatter settlements around Jadavpur station. Nobo’s decision to care for an abandoned baby brings unexpected responsibility into a life already defined by precarious survival. Its focus is not simply hardship, but the bonds and care people form within it.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →#1 Best Overall
Violence, healing and family fracture
The Fantastic Affair of Despair
Set as newly independent India emerges, the story follows a woman who leaves a postcolonial magazine after an act of extreme violence. Her encounter with a child-bride unfolds in a Himalayan valley marked by violence, a storm and a leopard, while political leaders pursue development ambitions. The premise places personal danger alongside the forces seeking to reshape the valley.
Cracks in the Wall
Kashyap’s collection approaches healing through distinct kinds of rupture. Scroll’s description mentions an abusive marriage, a mother caught between government and rebels, lost motherhood and a marriage affected by megalomania. As a collection rather than a single continuous plot, it offers several entry points into mental, familial and social struggle.
Rank #2
Status, ambition and a family mystery
Death of a Gentleman
Yuvraaj Khanna appears to have reached the heights of success with a grocery-delivery startup and an engagement. His wealthy, estranged father’s death changes the direction of the story: a murder investigation brings rivalries and tensions around status and ambition into view.
Saraswati
Satnam’s return from London for his grandmother’s funeral is interrupted by an unexpected discovery: water in a well that has long been dry. The resulting proposal to uncover a lost river and build a city is a fictional premise, not a report of a real discovery. The story also connects Satnam to distant relatives around the world, giving the local dispute a wider family dimension.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
Rank #3
Choosing a starting point
- For rural danger and a clash between expectation and physical work, start with Tiger Lessons.
- For displacement, precarious urban life and unexpected caregiving, consider Nowhere People.
- For a Himalayan setting where gendered violence intersects with nature and development, look to The Fantastic Affair of Despair.
- For several separate stories about healing and social fracture, choose Cracks in the Wall.
- For a murder investigation tied to status and ambition, choose Death of a Gentleman.
- For a family-linked story built around a fictional lost-river plan, choose Saraswati.
Only Tiger Lessons and Nowhere People are identified here as translations; the other four descriptions do not specify a source language. Scroll’s June 2025 list does not establish whether the books remain available, which editions are currently sold, or whether any are recent releases as of October 2026. Readers should check current publisher or bookseller listings for edition and availability details.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Rank #4
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
