A Strange And Sublime Address

Presented in a story-led, prose-driven approach, the book weaves a central narrative with nine intimate city sketches that illuminate life in Calcutta. The writing is languid and precise, rewarding careful reading and the savoring of small details. Now available in a superbly designed paperback edition, it is an award-winning work, recognized with prizes such as the Betty Trask Prize, the Commonwealth Writers Prize, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction, along with a Guardian Fiction Prize shortlist.

To deepen the reading experience, the prose blends sensory cues—heat, weather, meals, rituals—with intimate family scenes and social snapshots. Readers move through the book at a steady pace, letting memory and atmosphere guide them through shared meals, prayers, and everyday errands, while lingering on the subtler shifts in mood and perspective.

• Nine city-centered short stories interwoven with a central family-centered narrative
• Lyrical, elliptical prose that rewards slow, attentive reading
• Vivid sensory detail and intimate portraits of daily life in Calcutta
• Calm, contemplative pace that invites empathy, reflection, and cultural insight
• Ideal for readers who enjoy literary fiction, mood-driven storytelling, and thoughtful observation

Readers finish with a deeper sense of place and memory, a renewed appreciation for quiet daily life, and a lasting impression of language that reveals beauty in small moments. It leaves a calm, reflective resonance, inviting rereading to uncover new layers of meaning and perspective.