A dystopia like no other, Manil Suri paints a vibrant portrait of an India on the brink of collapse, two figures travelling across the unknown in a world scarily close to the modern day.
Mumbai has emptied under the threat of imminent nuclear annihilation, gangs of marauding Hindu and Muslim thugs rove the desolate, bombed-out streets, and yet Sarita can only think of one thing: buying the last pomegranate that remains in perhaps the entire city. She is convinced the fruit holds the key to reuniting with her physicist husband Karun, who has been mysteriously missing for over a fortnight.
Embarking on her quest for Karun, she is soon joined by Jaz - cocky, handsome, glib, and in search of his own lover. "The Jazter," as he calls himself, is a Muslim, but his true religion has steadfastly and unapologetically been sex with men. Their journey plunges them into a uniquely Indian dystopia rife with absurdity - from the starving aquarium guard who seems to have eaten most of his fish, to a group of telemarketers welcoming the bomb with an end-of-the-world party, all under the pervasive influence of the Bollywood megahit Superdevi, which some blame for sparking the religious fanaticism that has brought the country to its knees.
As Sarita and Jaz travel through this surreal landscape, they are inexorably drawn, like thousands of others, to the real-life incarnation fusing myth and movie - the patron goddess Devi ma, who has reputedly materialised in person to save her city.
Wickedly satirical, fearlessly provocative and disturbingly possible, The City of Devi upsets assumptions of politics, religion and sex in India, while exuberantly sending up the country's reputation as a rising global superpower. Groundbreaking and multilayered, this compelling tale of sexual consciousness and of individuals balancing on the sharp edge of fate demonstrates that, in the fallout of our mass media world, we are left seeking the presence of those we love the most.
About the Author
Manil Suri was born in Bombay in 1959 and is a professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He has written two novels, The Death of Vishnu and The Age of Shiva. His fiction has been translated into twenty-seven languages, longlisted for the Booker Prize, shortlisted for the PEN Faulkner, LA Times, PEN Hemingway and W H Smith Awards, and has won the McKittrick and the Barnes and Noble Discover prizes. He was named by Time Magazine as a 'Person to Watch' in 2000. He lives in Maryland, USA.
Industry Reviews
The City of Devi combines, in a magician's feat, the thrill of Bollywood with the pull of a thriller. Set in a city at the brink of the end, this is a fiercely imagined story of three souls haunted by a love that will change their most elemental ideas of identity. Manil Suri's bravest and most passionate book * Kiran Desai * Consuming, passionate, and ultimately poignant story -- Nikita Lalwani * Guardian * An extravagant, and warm-hearted romantic comedy ... Arranged around various trinities ... Suri's novel is written in vivid, cornucopian prose * Sunday Times * A provocative fantasy from prestigious Indian author Suri * Attitude Magazine * This vividly imagined book about personal and national destruction - and the possibilities of salvation - lingers long after the final page, showing how it is loss that teaches the value of what is most loved -- Anita Sethi * Independent * The City of Devi, which will surely cement his reputation as one of the most imaginative writers of our time ... Suri creates a mesmerising novel that is impossible to put down * Yorkshire Post * Apocalyptic fables may be routine in the West, but Suri's novel of ruined Mumbai on the eve of destruction strikes a fresh note in Indian fiction ... Ancient myths and modern fears fuse with explosive results' * Independent * Suri's gods are subversive, malignant characters, exploited to inspire fear and revulsion ... This mixture of sex, mythology and global politics might seem likely to end in disaster, but Suri has reined in the strands admirably. The author is also a mathematician, and his sense of order is evident, even as his story bursts with high-octane, Bollywood-style drama -- Chitralekha Basu * Times Literary Supplement *
