'What if is a tantalizing question for those who are invested in the plot twists of subcontinental history. In S. Hareesh's rich political imagination, that question erupts into a genre-defying, history-smashing novel about a country that didn't happen. Jayasree Kalathil captures the wit and creativity of this novel in her expert translation. Ultimately, this is a novel about the fictional nature of nation states and their borders.' - Shahnaz Habib, author of Airplane Mode, and JCB Prize-winning translator of Jasmine Days

'The real and the imagined commingle in this brilliant, and superbly translated, novel. In the verve of alternate history, under layers of research and play and invention, one finds a vital jostling with the questions of what fiction can do and what fiction must do.' - Tanuj Solanki, author of Diwali in Muzaffarnagar and Manjhi's Mayhem

S. HAREESH is the author of two novels and three short story collections. His novel Meesha won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award, the Vayalar Award and the Deshabhimani Award; and its English translation Moustache (translated by Jayasree Kalathil) won the 2020 JCB Prize for Literature. His short story collections include 'Adam', which received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award, Rasavidyayude Charithram, and Appan. He is also a recipient of the Geetha Hiranyan Endowment, the Thomas Mundassery Prize and the V.P. Sivakumar Memorial Prize. Hareesh hails from Neendoor in Kottayam district, Kerala.