Katherine Boo’s exploration of life inside a Mumbai slum is a masterclass in empathy, closely-observed reporting and the ability to make an unfamiliar world aching real and relevant.
Khaled Hosseini’s tragic novel is set in Afghanistan but his two female protagonists are victims of the same male-dominated value system that oppresses Meena in Honor.
Rohinton Mistry’s Dickensian novel tells a sweeping tale of India during the time of martial law and the fate of four strangers who find themselves stuck in a cramped apartment.
Megha Majumdar’s debut novel is a study in the pernicious effects of social media, the Otherizing of Muslims in India and the endemic political corruption, told through the viewpoint of three unforgettable characters.
Fatima Farheen Mirza’s debut novel is a quiet, incisive and intimate saga of a religious American Muslim family trying to hold on to its center amid the return of a prodigal son’s and shifting cultural mores.
1. In India, a Small Band of Women Risk It All for a Chance to Work
2. How to Get Away With Murder in Small-Town India
These two stories by Ellen Barry in the New York Times cover so much territory—patriarchal traditions, changes in culture and the backlash to those changes, police corruption, global politics. I read these stories filled with admiration for Barry’s brilliant reporting—and for the courageous Geeta and her growing sense of self.
