Alchemy of Desire

By Tarun J Tejpal
November 2006
Picador
Distributed by the Trans-Atlantic Publications
ISBN: 9780330435550
518 pages, 5 x 7 3/4"
$18.95 Paper Original

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Quick-paced and inventive, brimming with ideas and memorable characters, The Alchemy of Desire celebrates the chaotic spirit of India at a time of great change. It also offers, in searing, lucid prose, a deeply sensual and moving account of the complex chemistry between sex, ambition and love. This is a major novel by one of the most significant new voices of his generation.

'A bold and weighty first novel . . . sex is practically a character in its own right here, endlessly examined in all its luscious, experimental glory . . . A memorable and impressive debut’ Sunday Times

‘Throughout, it reveals Tejpal’s eye for characterisation and description’ Guardian

‘The passion in the novel is deeply organic to the characters and the narrative. As an attempt to compel readers to look at desire without the crippling impulse of shame and hypocrisy, it works beautifully’ Independent

‘Throughout the novel, Tejpal's sensuous language produces moments of breathtaking beauty, and he displays a poet's joy in catching the feel, odour and appearance of the living world’ Big Issue

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