“The Alchemy of Secrets is an urgent book, but it might also be an enduring one.”
“The deftness with which Balasubramanian weaves a fictional narrative that balances the political events that changed the course of a nation’s history is praiseworthy...has the makings of a consummate storyteller.”
“A powerful commentary on the subjects of family and belonging, as well as the perils of casteism and bigotry.
She joins a list of doctor-novelists that includes Arthur Conan Doyle, Khaled Hosseini, and Abraham Verghese, whose work collectively suggests that being attuned to living and dying makes for sensitive writing as well.”
In India: Order here, or find it a friendly book store near you.
There was an India Book Tour! If you didn’t catch Priya there, read press coverage of her events and reviews, or you could read her blog. She also responds to all fan mail!
All author proceeds from the book benefit two charities: The CMC Vellore Alumni Distress Fund, and the CEG 90 Knowledge Foundation at Anna University.
“Reading the book is like wading deep into the past only to come face to face with the present...These are not realisations that come crashing like waves; they are more like soft undercurrents. And that is the beauty of debut novelist Priya Balasubramanian’s writing; it is simple yet evocative. ...Priya does not preach; all she does is hold a mirror to our past in these polarised times.”
“The political and the personal come together inextricably in this debut novel...An absorbing read made all the more real by the news cycle from Delhi...”
“A riveting read...a brilliant debut novel...Impossible to put down...This book is a piece of art...”
‘There is no turning back now. I cannot afford to wonder if I am strong enough. I have to be, and it is time.’
Mira’s beloved grandmother is on her deathbed in Bangalore, a city she fled from seven years ago. She has no choice but to return. But it also means having to face what she has tried to forget all these years. Memories of a lazy summer come flooding back, when she and her best friend Anisa wandered the tree-lined streets in Bangalore. All was not as idyllic as it seemed to them, however: a mosque had recently come down in another part of the country, and its after-effects rippled all around them. As unscrupulous small-time politicians used the rise in religious fervour to grow their own careers, those ripples were soon to engulf these young girls, with tragic consequences. Back now in Bangalore, in a city even more polarised by religion, Mira untangles the threads—of love, jealousy, political ambition, friendship and family—and finds that they go far back. Not just to when she was a young girl, but further, to the mystery of her mother’s death during the Emergency, and beyond.
A vivid, unforgettable story, as relevant today as the time in which it is set, The Alchemy of Secrets explores how the simplest of acts can have the most far-reaching consequences.
The James Jones First Novel Fellowship was established in 1992 to “honor the spirit of unblinking honesty, determination, and insight into modern culture as exemplified by (the writings of) James Jones.” It is awarded to a North American author of a first novel-in-progress.
Other Awards:
Finalist, Faulkner-Wisdom Creative Writing Contest
Conference Choice Award, SDSU Writers Conference