1. A Burning by Megha Majumdar

Relevant to the present times, Majumdar’s debut novel is a gripping story filled with thrill, and a tinge of humour, compassion, hope and hopelessness. It addresses the existing socio-political issues of our country through an intriguing storyline, emphasising on corruption, oppression and justice. With an expedited narrative style, the story of three diverse characters and their aspirations in life unfold without shadowing their distinct voices. As their dreams get deterred, caught in the mayhem of contemporary India, they find themselves interconnected in the situation and their choices and fate pave the way to their freedom.

2. Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara

Telescoping on the grim social reality of the slum life in India, this debut novel gives us a suspense-filled tragic tale of the strange disappearance of children from the slum. Soon braveheart Jai, inspired by reality shows on TV, wears the detective’s hat along with his friends to solve the mystery. A thought persists that perhaps a djinn is behind all these. In their mystery-solving journey, the kids face uncooperative cops and tense parents as problems begin to escalate. Bordering the plot, the author addresses issues of inequality, religious discrimination, corruption and economic disparity and addresses how people turn a deaf ear to such prevailing serious issues.

3. Memory of Light by Ruth Vanita

Set against the backdrop of the 18th-century Nawabi-era of Lucknow, the story is about the romance blooming between two courtesans called Nafis bai and Chapla bai amidst the rich culture and traditions of their contemporary society. The author interestingly explores an LGBTQ relationship during the pre-colonial era and the trials and tribulations of the couple’s romance. She weaves the story in a manner to show the unprejudiced perception towards such relationships in those times as compared to present times.

4. Phoolsunghi by Pandey Kapil, translated by Gautam Choubey

This historical tale is the first-ever translation of a Bhojpuri novel into English, and therefore marks Bhojpuri literature’s foray into the mainstream for the first time. Set in the colonial era of Zamindari rule, the book narrates the love story of Bhojpuri folk poet Mahendar Misir and courtesan Dhelabai and their twisted fate in love, besides giving readers a glimpse of a vintage world away from the present reality.

5. Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar
The story is a jigsaw of fact, fiction and memoir in a world post-9/11, set in the US. It narrates the Muslim immigrant experience through a tale of identity crisis and quest for a sense of belonging of a father and son in the country they identify as home. The novel is a heart-wrenching tale of experiencing the burns of displacement and Islamophobia in one’s own ‘homeland’, a reality people are grappling with in the present times.

6. Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

The 2020 Booker Prize-winning debut title is a doleful tale of the struggle of a young effeminate boy named Shuggie, who grows up in public housing in Glasgow with his alcoholic mother and is abandoned by his father. Set in the backdrop of Margaret Thatcher’s policy-making that led to the drug epidemic, the plot revolves around a woman with dreams, good looks, possessing the love and care of her little son, yet eventually losing life to her alcohol addiction. It is heart-rending, with a spark of warmth stemming from the mother and son’s unflinching compassion for each other.

7. Real Life by Brandon Taylor

The debut fiction novel that is to some extent autobiographical and a coming-of-age campus story, recounts the campus experiences of a queer, black PhD student in a university that has a white dominance. It is a painful account of the disdainful campus life of the protagonist affected by prevalent racism, the fragmented ties he shares with his family, traumas of a difficult childhood, the experience of sexual abuse and the turmoils of his personal relationship. Written in a satirical style, the novel is brimming with emotions and made it to the Booker 2020 finalists too.

8. Apeirogon by Colum McCann

Set against the backdrop of the conflicts of the Middle East, the author narrates the heartfelt story of a bond forged by two fathers born out of the grief of having lost their daughters. One of them a Palestinian and the other an Israeli, this book takes readers on a journey where peaceful solutions to heated conflicts emerge out of shared experiences of loss, transcending apparent barriers of constructed differences.

9. Hamnet by Maggie O’ Farrell

A historical-biographical fiction based on Shakespeare’s son, the novel dives deep in history, quenching curiosity and shedding light on the character of Agnes, built upon Anne Hathaway’s life, a woman who finds no mention in the pages of the past. The author weaves the tragic and compelling story around the loss of the couple’s dear son. Following this, the father writes a play titled Hamlet.

10. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Emerging out of an intriguing plot, the story revolves around a pair of twins and their entangled fate despite getting separated at an early age. As the story moves ahead steeped in issues of community belongingness, racial identities and familial ties, it shows how the roots of a person influence their present thoughts and decisions. At the heart of this tender tale, there is a thrill in the narrative pace that keeps readers engrossed till the very end.

11. Meanwhile in Dopamine City by DBC Pierre
Based on the realities of the 21st-century lifestyle, the fictional narrative is much akin to the struggles of the common man, of getting sucked inside the digital web, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic. Lonny Cush has a manual-work job where he needs to go through training to update himself to the modern working structure. At the same time, he struggles as a single parent trying hard to keep up with the digital demands of his children and witnessing them being swallowed by the Internet mesh, pushing them into silent confinement. It is a story that resonates deeply with most parents and children of that age.

12. The Plague Upon Us by Shabir Ahmad Mir

Set in the blood-bathed Kashmir of the 1990s, no different to the contemporary times, the dynamic fictional narrative is the story of a plague of blindness expanding across the region of the protagonist Oubaid’s homeland. It recollects the tragic state of people hoping for peace and sheds light on the horrific situation by juxtaposing the narrative of Oubaid’s four childhood friends, all residents of the land. With a voice in his head and his memories, Oubaid has to confront his past in this story of fractured relationships in a violent and conflict-stricken land.

13. Women, Dreaming by Salma, translated by Meena Kandasamy

Set in a small Muslim village of Tamil Nadu, Salma’s story is about women daring to dream of a better life for themselves in a patriarchal society, further cramped by religious orthodoxy. Bound by strong faith and dealing with a tumult of emotions, the women across generations in the novel do not let anything shun their voice and combat. Their silence speaks as much as their words, articulated through a simple narration.

14. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

In this fictional story, the woman protagonist’s choice to give up on life one day leads her to a library full of alternative possibilities represented through the stacked books on the shelves. Nora can live any life she wants by opening a book, she can make different choices and can choose to stay if it suits her or come out of it.

In a way, this book is a gleam of hope in this present difficult world perhaps conveying to people that if they knew life could be different would they give life another chance instead of choosing to give up. It is a novel that leads to a soul searching journey.