{"product_id":"sakinas-kiss-9781961341296","title":"Sakina's Kiss","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA taut story of hidden violence and self-deception from \"an Indian Chekhov\" (Suketu Mehta)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn upper-middle class couple in Bangalore, Venkat and Viji, find their quiet life upended--and the flaws in their marriage exposed--when two strange young men come knocking at their door in the middle of the night, claiming to have business with their daughter, Rekha, a college senior who happens to be visiting relatives in the countryside. Venkat--a narrator whose account of his marriage, and of the lives of his wife and daughter, we soon learn to doubt--sends the boys away, but they come back the next day, and now they're not alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile Venkat begins to fear for his daughter's safety, he is haunted by the memory of a betrayal and disappearance from long ago. As his guilt-ridden imagination leaps between knowing and unknowing, evasion and confrontation, Shanbhag reveals not just the tensions in a marriage or a family, but also the polarization of Indian politics and the resurgence of the Hindu right.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrecise, enigmatic, and suspenseful, \u003ci\u003eSakina's Kiss\u003c\/i\u003e fulfills the promise of Vivek Shanbhag's lauded debut, \u003ci\u003eGhachar Ghochar\u003c\/i\u003e, which Parul Sehgal called \"A great Indian novel...elegant, lean, balletic\" (\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e McNally Editions\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/03\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781961341296\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 192","brand":"Vivek Shanbhag","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45276418310325,"sku":"9781961341296","price":16.15,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_132d4563-6655-47f3-ace4-55365735abee.jpg?v=1744123162","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/sakinas-kiss-9781961341296","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}