Saraswati - Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award

AN OBSERVER BEST NEW NOVELIST 2025 SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2025 A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE INDEPENDENT, TELEGRAPH, NERVE AND GUARDIAN ´An ambitious, stylishly delivered novel ... Reminiscent of Salman Rushdie´OBSERVER ´Johal has written a major novel, and at his very first attempt´ TELEGRAPH, 5-STAR REVIEW When the waters of the Saraswati, a river of legend, start to rise in a corner of northern India, seven scattered descendants of a forbidden marriage are unexpectedly swept up in its current. Satnam, adrift from his life in London, is drawn into a contentious scheme to restore the river. Nathu, an archaeologist, ventures from Nairobi to a dig site that might reveal artefacts of a lost civilisation. And elsewhere in former lands of empire - in Singapore, Canada, Mauritius and Pakistan - the ripples are felt across generations. Gurnaik Johal´s panoramic debut deftly animates the passions that bind us to our histories and each other. ´A rich tapestry, occasionally bewildering, often beguiling´ THE NEW YORK TIMES