Writer Jahnavi Barua's new novel 'Rebirth' provides glimpses of Assam's troubled political history while examining contemporary urban life.
Set in Bangalore and Guwahati, 'Rebirth' is the story of a young woman Kaberi struggling with an uncertain marriage and is also an intimate portrait of the bond between a mother and her unborn child.
Moving between Bangalore and Guwahati, the novel, published by Penguin, weaves together Kaberi's inner and outer worlds as she negotiates the treacherous waters of betrayal and loss - an unfaithful husband, a troubled relationship with her parents and the death of a childhood friend.
With characteristic restraint and disarming honesty, Jahnavi lays bare the disquieting predicaments of contemporary urban life and reveals the timeless and redemptive power of love, friendship and self-renewal.
Though trained as a doctor, Jahnavi instead decided to pursue a career in writing with her passion for the land she comes from (Assam), publishing her first book 'Next Door' - a collection of short stories, in 2008 to critical acclaim.
Besides her short stories being widely anthologised, in 2005 Jahnavi won the Short Fiction contest hosted by Unisun Publishers and the British Council.
That was followed by the second prize in the Children's Fiction category of the same prize the next year.
In 2006, the Bangalore-based author was awarded a Charles Wallace Trust Fellowship to study Creative Writing in the UK.
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