Bookwatch: The longlist for the JCB Prize

A Lonely Harvest and Trial By Silence by Perumal Murugan: In an unusual move, the jury has placed Murugan’s ‘twin’ sequels to One Part Woman, on the longlist. His Poonachi was shortlisted last year.
 
A Patchwork Family by Mukta Sathe: The debut novel depicts the story of a young lawyer who tackles the judicial system and family dynamics with equal élan. 

There’s Gunpowder in the Air by Manoranjan Byapari: A convict-turned-rickshaw-puller turned Bengali writer received a well-deserved national attention when his autobiography, Interrogating my Chandal life was translated in English last year. This book is equally powerful.

Ib's Endless Search for Satisfaction by Roshan Ali: This debut book in masterful prose is a journey of sadness and self-reflection, where Ib transforms into an ordinary man from a boy who tries to figure out life.

Milk Teeth by Amrita Mahale: This subtle and incisive book tells the story of a reporter in the city the Mumbai. 

My Father’s Garden by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar: The author’s third book negotiates love and sexuality, the need for companionship, and the burdens of memory and familial expectation. 

A Secret History of Compassion by Paul Zacharia: By one of India’s foremost writers, widely known for his wicked turn of phrase and unfailing irreverence for the establishment, this is a novel in brilliant, irresistible freefall. 

The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay: Gorgeously tactile and sweeping in historical and socio-political scope, the book follows a complicated flaneuse across the Indian subcontinent as she reckons with her past, her desires, and the tumultuous present.

The Queen of Jasmine Country by Sharanya Manivannan: Rich with the echoes of classical poetry, the book imagines the life of the devotional poet Andal, whose sublime and erotic verses remain beloved but controversial to this day.

The City and The Sea by Raj Kamal Jha: A book about masculinity, which cleaves open India's tragedy of violence against women with a powerful story about the complicity in the country's culture that supports it.