Latitudes of Longing

A Novel

By: Shubhangi Swarup

Narrated by: Vikas Adam

A sweeping, lyrical debut about the love and longing between humanity and the earth itself, by a major new literary talent from India

“A marvel of magical realism.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

A spellbinding work of literature, Latitudes of Longing follows the interconnected lives of characters searching for true intimacy. The novel sweeps across India, from an island, to a valley, a city, and a snow desert, to tell a love story of epic proportions. We follow a scientist who studies trees and a clairvoyant who speaks to them; a geologist working to end futile wars over a glacier; octogenarian lovers; a mother struggling to free her revolutionary son; a yeti who seeks human companionship; a turtle who transforms first into a boat and then a woman; and the ghost of an evaporated ocean as restless as the continents. Binding them all together is a vision of life as vast as the universe itself.

A young writer awarded one of the most prestigious prizes in India for this novel, Shubhangi Swarup is a storyteller of extraordinary talent and insight. Richly imaginative and wryly perceptive, Latitudes of Longing offers a soaring view of humanity: our beauty and ugliness, our capacity to harm and love one another, and our mysterious and sacred relationship with nature.

Longlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature • Shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Literature • Longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award • Winner of the Sushila Devi Literature Award for the Best Book of Fiction Written by a Woman • Winner of the Tata Literature Live! First Book Award for Fiction

A debut that will be hard to follow up

How to describe a book that encompasses so much of life, of humans and science and beliefs? It is stories of people's wide-ranging and intimate thoughts. The four sections are connected as the wider story continues over generations, circling back as the wheel of life does. The writing in each section animates each one - from lyrical to gritty to practical to spare, defined by the physical surroundings as much as the characters. I visualized each area clearly, from the open sky and ocean of the Amdamans to the filthy streets and stunted lives of the Burmese under an autocratic government. From the village elder in Ladakh sharing his wisdom as he falls in love with an old Muslim woman, to the arid heights of the Karakorams and a young scientist finding himself and his Andaman grandfather.

The writing is wonderful and very wise, and deserving of the praise it has recieved.I look forward to reading more from this young author.