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Pioneering Malayalam novelist CV Raman Pillai’s first novel, ‘Marthandavarma’, was published in 1891 to a warm and enthusiastic reception. The novel has remained in print ever since and continues to be enjoyed by readers, beyond Kerala. It tells the story of King Marthandavarma, who would create history by thwarting the expansionist ambitions of the Dutch colonists in the decisive battle of Kolachal in 1741. But, in this novel, we meet him as a young beleaguered prince — one who must defend his right to the throne of Travancore.

Neena Nehru’s novel revisits the idealism and disillusionment, the heady conviction and slow loss of faith that marked the lives of a section of India’s youth in the Sixties and Seventies, trying to reconcile their own privilege with the harsh lives of a vast majority of their fellow citizens. The novel travels from London to Chandigarh, Bihar and Ladakh, where the protagonists, a few months past their 70th birthdays, reflect on their past dreams and aspirations and whether they achieved what they had wanted to or not.

Inspired by real-life cases, ‘The Number You Are Calling Is Switched Off’ by former crime reporter Tushar Srivastava is a thriller drawing on graphic descriptions and good characters. Netaji is on the brink of becoming India’s prime minister when his trusted confidant, VJS, receives a chilling call. The cops are thrust into a desperate race against time. Can they track a ghost in a city of millions?