Saraswati

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
Hugely ambitious, intense and dizzying ... Johal's expansive vision and propulsive story-telling mark him as a talent * Daily Mail *
An epic novel that deserves to be widely read -- Naoise Dolan * Irish Times *
Almost everything in Saraswati works beautifully. Johal has written a major novel, and at his very first attempt * Telegraph, Five-Star Review *
An ambitious, stylishly delivered novel ... reminiscent of Salman Rushdie and resembling the energy and range of David Mitchell's Ghostwritten and Zadie Smith's White Teeth -- John Self * Observer *
An excellent novel * Daily Express *
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
Thrilling ... an intricately patterned portrait of the Punjabi diaspora * Times Literary Supplement *
One of the most exciting voices in British fiction * Shruti Chauhan, BBC Radio *
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 * Observer, ‘Best new novelists for 2025’ *
Beautifully written. A fascinating, accomplished debut * Buzz Magazine *
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
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
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
Saraswati is a big and ambitious novel in which Johal connects history, global politics, the consequences of empire, world poverty and the climate crisis... He [Johal] has the right to rage about the state of the world his generation are inheriting and he expresses it with real passion * Strong Words *
An ambitious panoramic portrait * Guardian *
Praise for Gurnaik Johal * : *
Virtuosic * Guardian *
Exceptional * Financial Times *
Johal has catapulted himself into the front rank -- Rahul Raina