LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION'S 2024 FIRST NOVEL PRIZE • An unforgettable story of love and resistance surrounding two young people born across social lines, set against a tumultuous political landscape in India.
"[A] heart-wrenching tale of forbidden love" —THE WASHINGTON POST
Vijaya and Sree are the daughters of the Deshmukhs of Irumi. Hailing from a lineage of ancestral aristocrats, their family’s social status and power over villagers on their land is absolute. Krishna and Ranga, brothers, are the sons of a widowed servant in the Deshmukh household.
When Vijaya and Krishna meet, they forge an intense bond that is beautiful and dangerous. But after an innocent attempt to hunt down a man-eating tiger in the jungle goes wrong, what happens between the two of them is disastrous, the consequences reverberating through their lives into young adulthood.
Years later, when violent uprisings rip across the countryside and the Marxist, ultra-left Naxalite movement arrives in Irumi, Vijaya and Krishna are forced to navigate the insurmountable differences of land ownership and class warfare in a country that is burning from the inside out—while being irresistibly drawn back to each other, their childhood bond now full of possibilities neither of them are willing to admit.
The Fertile Earth is a vast, ambitious debut that is equal parts historical, political, and human, with the enduring ties of love and family loyalty at its heart. Who can be loved? What are the costs of transgressions? How can justice be measured, and who will be alive to bear witness?
Genre: Literary Fiction
"[A] heart-wrenching tale of forbidden love" —THE WASHINGTON POST
Vijaya and Sree are the daughters of the Deshmukhs of Irumi. Hailing from a lineage of ancestral aristocrats, their family’s social status and power over villagers on their land is absolute. Krishna and Ranga, brothers, are the sons of a widowed servant in the Deshmukh household.
When Vijaya and Krishna meet, they forge an intense bond that is beautiful and dangerous. But after an innocent attempt to hunt down a man-eating tiger in the jungle goes wrong, what happens between the two of them is disastrous, the consequences reverberating through their lives into young adulthood.
Years later, when violent uprisings rip across the countryside and the Marxist, ultra-left Naxalite movement arrives in Irumi, Vijaya and Krishna are forced to navigate the insurmountable differences of land ownership and class warfare in a country that is burning from the inside out—while being irresistibly drawn back to each other, their childhood bond now full of possibilities neither of them are willing to admit.
The Fertile Earth is a vast, ambitious debut that is equal parts historical, political, and human, with the enduring ties of love and family loyalty at its heart. Who can be loved? What are the costs of transgressions? How can justice be measured, and who will be alive to bear witness?
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"The Fertile Earth is an unforgettable novel. It's beautifully written, immersive, clear-eyed in its depiction of caste and oppression, yet tender in its portrayal of heartbreak and hope." - Deepa Anappara
"Lush, bold, haunting and heartbreaking. The story of a forbidden love against the violent backdrop of post-independent India, The Fertile Earth had me gripped. Rao's gorgeous prose leaps off the page in this impressive and unforgettable debut novel." - Alba Arikha
"This is an inspired, gorgeous book, and Ruthvika Rao's storytelling has a confident, compassionate intelligence - I'd follow her bright voice anywhere." - Natalie Bakopoulos
"An astonishing, intelligent epic set during the early decades of post-Independence India... A novel you will not be able to forget." - Angela Flournoy
"The Fertile Earth made me think about so many things, from family and love to politics and violence. The scope of this brilliant novel is vast. Absolutely captivating." - Luan Goldie
"Held me spellbound... Ruthvika Rao is a fearless writer, and her debut is nothing short of dazzling." - Tania James
"An achingly beautiful book... A spellbinding epic of land, class, and family in post-independence India. Vijaya, Krishna, Ranga, and Sree are formidable characters whose choices never fail to upend expectations, hurtling towards a future of earth-shattering emotional reverberations." - Aube Rey Lescure
"What a marvelous writer Ruthvika is... The Fertile Earth is a compulsively readable novel." - Margot Livesey
"Bold, sensual, and captivating, The Fertile Earth pits love against memory, love against class, love against politics, love against time, love against all. Read it, and find out which one wins." - Shobha Rao
"Lush, bold, haunting and heartbreaking. The story of a forbidden love against the violent backdrop of post-independent India, The Fertile Earth had me gripped. Rao's gorgeous prose leaps off the page in this impressive and unforgettable debut novel." - Alba Arikha
"This is an inspired, gorgeous book, and Ruthvika Rao's storytelling has a confident, compassionate intelligence - I'd follow her bright voice anywhere." - Natalie Bakopoulos
"An astonishing, intelligent epic set during the early decades of post-Independence India... A novel you will not be able to forget." - Angela Flournoy
"The Fertile Earth made me think about so many things, from family and love to politics and violence. The scope of this brilliant novel is vast. Absolutely captivating." - Luan Goldie
"Held me spellbound... Ruthvika Rao is a fearless writer, and her debut is nothing short of dazzling." - Tania James
"An achingly beautiful book... A spellbinding epic of land, class, and family in post-independence India. Vijaya, Krishna, Ranga, and Sree are formidable characters whose choices never fail to upend expectations, hurtling towards a future of earth-shattering emotional reverberations." - Aube Rey Lescure
"What a marvelous writer Ruthvika is... The Fertile Earth is a compulsively readable novel." - Margot Livesey
"Bold, sensual, and captivating, The Fertile Earth pits love against memory, love against class, love against politics, love against time, love against all. Read it, and find out which one wins." - Shobha Rao
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