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Saraswati

Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award

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About this listen

 AN OBSERVER BEST NEW NOVELIST 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2025


A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE INDEPENDENT, TELEGRAPH, NERVE AND GUARDIAN


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 ambitious, stylishly delivered novel ... Reminiscent of Salman Rushdie' OBSERVER

'Johal has written a major novel, and at his very first attempt' TELEGRAPH, 5-STAR REVIEW

'Saraswati is a major achievement, and Johal a huge talent. One of the biggest novels of the year' Martin MacInnes, Booker-longlisted author of In Ascension©2025 Gurnaik Johal Genre Fiction Literary Fiction
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This multi threaded story has lots to admire. But 2 aspects frustrated me: a) the extremely long chapters, abrupt change of characters and dramatic sudden shifts in tone make it difficult to listen to as not being 100% attentive could mean being lost as to what was happening. b) each story within the novel feels incomplete:I wanted better closure.

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