Latitudes of Longing

2020 Longlist

The novel begins in the depths of the Andaman Sea, and follows geological and emotional faultlines through the Irrawaddy delta and the tourist-trap of Thamel, to end amidst the highest glaciers and passes of the Karakorams. The story sweeps through worlds and times that are inhabited by: a scientist who studies trees and a clairvoyant who talks to them; Lord Goodenough who travels around the furthest reaches of the Raj, giving names to nameless places; a geologist working towards ending futile wars over a glacier; octogenarian lovers; a superstitious dictator and a mother struggling to get her revolutionary son released; a yeti who seeks human companionship; a turtle who turns first into a boat and then a woman; and the ghost of an evaporated ocean as restless as the continents.

About the Author

Shubhangi Swarup is a journalist and educationist. She was awarded the Charles Pick Fellowship for Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, and has also won awards for gender sensitivity in feature writing. She lives in Mumbai.

Librarian’s Comments

This is a highly imaginative, unique and distinct novel. Rarest of the rare, with original plot. It celebrates the natural world and on its way to create new mythologies. Preoccupation of Latitudes, meditative silence alarm us with the impending events. A well-sculpted novel creates suspense till the end. Exceptional. India International Centre Library, India