It’s difficult to compress India into a few books. The country is too vast, too wide, too diverse to include all the stories that will give you any deep understanding. But these are the books that I have enjoyed, or that are on my to-read list. It’s a mix of non-fiction and fiction, and though I haven’t covered all grounds, these are my top picks.
Books are personal, and these are my recommendations for travelers interested in India. Bookmark whatever you like, and if you would like something else included, drop a comment.
‘The Palace of Illusions’
The great Hindu epic Mahabharata is revered in India. Written in Sanskrit, it’s one of the longest poems, and takes you back 4,000 years to a time when two sets of cousins fought for the kingdom of Kuru. Apart from the 18-day war, the epic narrates stories of different characters and their backgrounds, while also imparting wisdom through moral lessons. The Bhagavad Gita, which is about moral duty or karma, is part of the Mahabharata. But Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni writes The Palace of Illusions from the perspective of Panchaali or Draupadi, the wife to one set of cousins whose humiliation leads to the war.
Reading Mahabharata from a woman’s lens was a novel experience, as most of us have grown up listening to these tales from a man’s point of view. The same stories of heroic battles are told by a woman who paints the picture with her turmoil, her angst, and her strengths. It’s quite an interesting piece of feminist study, despite all the creative liberties Divakaruni takes, and a condensed version of the epic.
‘Funeral Nights’
Recently, at the FENIX Migration Museum in Rotterdam, I saw a coffin shaped like a car. It is part of Ghanaian culture, where a fantastical vehicle takes people on their final journey. It’s fascinating that every culture has a distinctly personal relationship to death, and you get a glimpse of it in Funeral Nights.
This novel by Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih is unique. Six friends travel from Shillong to Meghalaya in northeast India for a funeral ceremony — not just any ceremony, but a six-day Ka Phor Sorat (feast of the dead), an ancient rite that the Lyngngam tribe (a sub-tribe of the Khasi people) perform. The body of the elder has been preserved for nine months for this ceremony that involves many rituals, and it might be the last time it is performed.
The friends arrive days early, so to pass the time they exchange stories about life, death, heroes, myths, and religion every night. This one is a mammoth read, and it offers deep insights into a region and a people that many outside northeast India know little about.
‘The Inheritance of Loss’
Kiran Desai won the Booker Prize for this 2006 novel, and you know what that means: it’s not an easy-breezy read. Give it time, because the book will reward you. I read it slowly, as many pages demanded absolute attention, sometimes twice over.
The story brings you to Kalimpong, a mountainous town in the northeast of India. Here in the 1980s, an insurgency is threatening the peace and quiet, while a retired judge is living in a crumbling house with his granddaughter and cook. Biju, the cook’s son, is an illegal immigrant in the U.S. who went to the country in the hopes of a brighter future — romantic ideas that wipe away as he faces humiliation and isolation.
The colonial heritage of the book is heavy — racism, casteism, and classism make this book grim, especially for those who recognize how real it all is. The judge, who carries such deep hatred for himself and for Indians, is one of the most unlikeable characters you’ll read. But the story takes you back to his time in London, and the contrast between his journey and Biju’s offers another sharp insight into the immigrant experience.
These eight books together form a rich, layered introduction to India — its epics, its northeast cultures, its colonial legacy, and the lives of its people at home and abroad. Whether you’re preparing for a first trip or deepening a long relationship with the country, each one is worth your time.
