Sleeping on Jupiter

Nominated for the Man Booker Prize 2015 and winner of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2016, this powerful and unflinching novel by a captivating storyteller explores themes of religion, love, and violence in the modern world. A train stops at a station, and a young woman jumps out. With wild hair, disheveled clothing, and a distracted demeanor, she appears Indian, yet somehow is not. The sudden violence that follows leaves the other passengers gasping. The train ends in Jarmuli, a temple town by the sea. Here, among pilgrims, priests, and ashrams, three elderly women disembark, only to encounter the girl again. What is someone like her doing in this remote corner that only attracts the devout? Over the next five days, the elderly women live out their long-planned dream of a shared vacation; their temple guide finds ecstasy in forbidden love; and the girl is accompanied by a photographer.