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Murugan and Vasudevan reunite after the infamous "success" of Murugan's translated-into-English debut, One Part Woman, longlisted for the 2018 National Book Award for Translated Literature. Murugan declared himself dead on Facebook after the cult novel was viciously condemned in India, his homeland, and Vasuvedan declined a major translator award in protest. A second National Book Award longlist nod in 2020 for The Story of a Goat (2019) returned Murugan to international acclaim. His latest again spotlights remote village life, while the concise title looms as a threat throughout. Shy lovebirds Saroja and Kumaresan glimpse each other from afar: Saroja is the homemaker for her widower father and older brother; Kumaresan lodges nearby and delivers soda bottles for a living. The pair flee Saroja's family to marry, fearful of being stopped. They travel to Kumaresan's ancestral village where they are met with shocked repudiation, especially from Kumaresan's widowed mother. That Saroja with her pale skin couldn't possibly be of the same caste censures her as a pariah, leaving the couple mired in unforgiving rejection. With exquisitely honed details, Murugan vividly exposes society's blind adherence to draconian traditions.

Murugan (The Story of a Goat) delivers a powerful fable of star-crossed lovers and societal intolerance. Kumaresan, a young man from an isolated village in southern India, works as a deliveryman in a larger town, where he meets and marries Saroja, a leather worker's daughter. After he brings her to his village, his widowed mother and the rest of the community are outraged that the bride is of a different caste and complexion. Hounded mercilessly, Saroja cowers in her hut and discovers she's pregnant just as the village council decides to excommunicate the family unless her caste is revealed. Murugan describes rural life in piercing detail, making the everyday toil and inner lives of humble people the backdrop to the unfolding drama of escalating threats from Kumaresan's relatives and neighbors. The simple, elegant prose of Vasudevan's translation ranges from poetic ("The day slowly leaned over and fell to the west") to suspenseful as the hopeful innocence of young love bristles against tradition and Saroja faces increasing danger from the villagers. The author himself was censored in 2014 by government-affiliated activists in India and briefly gave up writing; thankfully, he has returned. Murugan deserves worldwide recognition. Agent: Priya Doraswamy, Lotus Lane Literary. (Feb.)

A young intercaste couple elopes in rural Southern India, braving the anger of their families and the fatal restrictions of society. Murugan's novel opens with the just-married Saroja and Kumaresan stepping off a bus in rural Tamil Nadu to walk a mile to Kumaresan's mother's home, located in his ancestral village. He instructs Saroja to say nothing of her caste identity, but given her fair complexion, the farming villagers immediately suspect she is not one of them. Despite the taboo against intercaste marriage, Kumaresan believes that they can settle happily there and that his community will eventually embrace the lovely Saroja just as he has. Saroja is a city girl, and her transition to farming life would have been difficult even without the explicit derision and antagonism that the couple experiences from everyone in the village, including Kumaresan's mother, extended family, and the village leaders. Their naïveté plays against the community's hatred and cynicism and creates a sense of foreboding that propels the narrative to its inevitable conclusion. An acclaimed writer in his native India, Murugan skillfully contrasts the young couple's innocence with the increasingly caustic attacks on their marital union. His spare prose mesmerizes, and Vasudevan's translation of the original Tamil conveys both meaning and needed context for Western English readers. India's casteism is on full display, but what makes this novel so powerful is how Murugan shows that intolerance, cruelty, and bigotry are universal traits of humankind, even while tailored to the peculiarity of each society. Universal too, are the love, kindness, and familial bonds that exist between individuals who have the sensitivity to look beyond societal custom and coercion. A haunting story of forbidden love set in Southern India that illustrates the cruel consequences of societal intolerance. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.