Stories of the True

Jeyamohan charts the exhilarating highs and devastating lows of the human condition in this impressive 2011 collection, the prolific author’s English-language debut. Set largely in southern India, the stories feature characters who hold onto their ideals even in the face of overwhelming strife. In the outstanding “Elephant Doctor,” a rookie forest ranger grows close to the selfless Dr. V. Krishnamurthy, known as the Elephant Doctor, who puts no stock in professional recognition and devotes his life to caring for elephants and other animals. The civil servant narrator of the heartrending “A Hundred Armchairs” faces discrimination for his low-caste origins and incomprehension from his mother for moving up in the world. The tension heightens as the narrator tries to care for his declining mother while she hurls insults at his wife. Writers appear in several stories, like “Peruvali,” in which Tamil playwright Komal Swaminathan climbs the Himalayas even as he’s suffering from cancer. With their striking scenes of violence, beauty, and sympathy, these stories embody the glorious “filth and muck” of literature, as described by two friends visiting the Gandhi memorial in Kanyakumari: “Like an uprooted sapling, there’s mud clinging to its roots... it’s steeped in waste and refuse. That’s why it inches a step closer to God.” Readers will be grateful for this introduction to a staggering talent. Agent: Kanishka Gupta, Writer’s Side. (Aug.)