April fiction: Four novels and two short story collections to read this month

Fear and Other Stories, Dalpat Chauhan, translated from the Gujarati by Hemang Ashwinkumar

Fear and Other Stories is a reminder of the inherent dangers of the Dalit life, a life subjected to unimaginable violence and terror even in its most mundane moments. In this collection of short stories, Chauhan narrates these lived experiences of exasperation and anger with startling vividity. His characters chronicle a deep history of resistance, interrogating historical, mythological and literary legends, foregrounding the perspectives of the disenfranchised.

In “The Payback”, for a change, we see famished savarnas begging Dalit families for food that they scorn otherwise. The eponymous “Fear” follows the heroic but doomed resistance of Dalit youths fighting against savarna men with the “right” to enter their homes and molest women inside. And the allegorical “Cold Blood” features a doctor who tries to leave behind his identity with his surname, only to be reminded of it when the savarnas accept his blood, but not water from his hands. Chauhan deftly wields his prose to counter dominant narratives, pointing out gaps and voicing the silences within.

The Bandit Queens, Parini Shroff

Five years ago, Geeta lost her no-good husband. That is to say, she actually lost him – he walked out on her and she has no idea...

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