Saraswati
An Observer Best Debut Novel 2025
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Profile Books Ltd
Published:12th Jun '25
Should be back in stock very soon
A masterpiece debut novel from one of the UK's most exciting young writers, for fans of David Mitchell, Deepti Kapoor and Zadie Smith
* AN INDEPENDENT BEST BOOK OF 2025 * A GUARDIAN BOOK TO LOOK FORWARD TO * 'Johal has written a major novel, and at his very first attempt ... almost everything in Saraswati works beautifully' TELEGRAPH, 5-STAR REVIEW 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 extraordinary debut... everything in Saraswati works beautifully. Johal has written a major novel, and at his very first attempt. * The Telegraph, Fiction Books of the Month June 2025 *
A dizzyingly transcontinental ecological epic ... 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 * The Observer, ‘Best new novelists for 2025’ *
A surging, roaring deluge of a novel, which ebbs and flows with a flood of wonderfully overlapping stories. I absolutely loved it -- Jon McGregor, author of Reservoir 13
Saraswati is an extraordinary novel: gripping, funny, epic, elegant, and full of preternatural wisdom. Johal's greatest strength is his ability to show the world as inexhaustibly fascinating, a vast and wondrous meshwork of interlocking stories. 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
A bold, intriguing tapestry of near-future tales: part absurdist political satire, part folkloric meditation, part ecological parable, this novel pulses with a frenetic energy that brings together a cast of beguiling characters -- Aube Rey Lescure, Women's Prize-shortlisted author of River East, River West
Immersive, erudite, intimate and epic, a weaving of lives and stories, old and new, into something vast and very special. Saraswati sounds a note of hope, and a warning for our future -- Preti Taneja, award-winning author of We That Are Young
Capacious and brilliant. It has all the sweeping ambition of a great epic with the intimate genius of a master short story writer -- Anna Metcalfe, Granta Best of Young British Novelists author of Chrysalis
A fast-moving action novel that sweeps through many times, people, and places - it's full of life. I loved the torrent of stories, and Johal's sharp, insightful sense of humour -- Daisy Hildyard, author of Emergency
An ambitious panoramic portrait * Guardian *
Praise for Gurnaik Johal * : *
Virtuosic * Guardian *
Exceptional * Financial Times *
Johal has catapulted himself into the front rank -- Rahul Raina
ISBN: 9781788169486
Dimensions: 30mm x 236mm x 33mm
Weight: 660g
384 pages
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