One of the most compelling books out this year is Nilanjana S. Roy’s “Black River,” which is both a gripping mystery and a deeply moving book about the people who live in and around the Indian city of Delhi. Roy, books columnist for the Financial Times, has edited several anthologies and is the author of the essay collection “The Girl Who Ate Books” and the fantasy novels “The Wildings” and “The Hundred Names of Darkness.”
Q. Congratulations on “Black River,” which is an incredible, moving book with a compelling mystery and richly drawn characters. Would you please tell readers about it?
Thank you! “Black River” explores the aftermath of a crime, the ripples that spread through the small village of Teetarpur on the outskirts of the megacity of Delhi when a child is casually killed. It’s also a celebration of the survival of friendship in a time of raging bias, a lament for dying rivers and trash mountains, and if I’ve got it right, is about the possibility of resilience despite crushing loss.
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Q. The novel manages to be both a journalistic look at the people, politics, and economics of the areas you describe, but you also maintain a taut mystery throughout. Can you talk about creating that dynamic, please?
It took four drafts, with pointers from my wise agent David Godwin, to get the balance between pace and depth right. I wanted readers to have the pleasure of reading swiftly, but also to be able to linger if they chose, to enter places like Teetarpur, or a Delhi slaughterhouse, to live with migrants on the banks of the Yamuna river. Crimes, especially murder, have deep roots and tell you a lot about communities and cities; I hoped readers would feel immersed in that world.
Q. Your exhausted investigator, Ombir Singh, has the depth and flaws to be a character I’d read more about. Would you consider returning to any of these characters again – or are you thinking about training your eye on a different area and its issues?
I’m touched — that’s so encouraging! Most of the characters in “Black River,” including Chand and Rabia, are living their lives off the page, but I’m happy to share that Ombir is coming back. He faces tougher moral dilemmas and a more sophisticated, deadly world in the next book, but though I don’t always agree with his flexible view of policing, I admire his ability to remain himself in all circumstances.
Q. Is there a book or books you always recommend to other readers?
For writers, several — but a favourite is Natalie Goldberg’s crisp, meditative “Writing Down The Bones” (“Writing is so simple, basic and austere”). For readers of crime and noir, I love books that deepen or change this venerable genre — Percival Everett’s “The Trees,” Oyinkan Braithwaite’s “My Sister, The Serial Killer,” Deepti Kapoor’s “Age of Vice,” Seishi Yokomizo’s “The Honjin Murders,” “Butter” by Asako Yuzuki, anything by Dennis Lehane, Tana French or Val McDermid.
Q. What are you reading now?
Too much! I read a lot for the column on reading I write for the Financial Times, and our four cats love toppling the book towers that pile up. But one from the present: Samantha Harvey’s “Orbital” is sublime, will make you see and love Earth anew. And one from the past: I’m loving the poet Ranjit Hoskote’s “Ten Indian Classics,” selections from 2,500 years of song and prose across languages.
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Q. Is there a genre or type of book you read the most – and what would you like to read more of?
I’m an omnivore, but my homes are in literary fiction, crime, fantasy and poetry. I’d love to read more books from the ancient and medieval world, to honour the rich heritage of storytelling passed down through the centuries.
Q. Is there a person who made an impact on your reading life – a teacher, a parent, a librarian or someone else?
My father grew up in small-town Odisha, collected local ghost stories, raided the library, and passed that passion for books on to me and my siblings. He died three years ago, but he brought the world via Naguib Mahfouz, Salman Rushdie, Toni Morrison, Doris Lessing, Wole Soyinka into our home, took us to bookstores in Delhi and Calcutta, and gave me the best advice: when you visit a new city, go to its markets and bookshops if you want to understand its soul.
Q. If you could ask your readers something, what would it be?
Reading is a lifelong friendship; how has it shaped you? And how would you like it to shape you differently in the future?
For more, check out the writer’s website.
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