The Fertile Earth

FINALIST 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?
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LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE * SHORTLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION PRIZE 'Dazzling... Plot-packed, emotionally extravagant, dramatically intense' Guardian A sweeping story of forbidden love, of friendship and betrayal, power and revenge, set against the tumultuous political landscape of post-Independence India Vijaya and Sree are the daughters of the wealthy, landowning Deshmukh family, whose social status and power are absolute in the tiny village of Irumi. Krishna and Ranga are the sons of a widowed servant who works in the Deshmukh household. The four children should never have spoken, let alone forged a friendship. But the bonds they form are intense – and dangerous. When they are caught up in a devastating accident, the consequences ripple through their lives and send them scattering to different corners of India. Years later, when violent uprisings tear across the countryside, Vijaya and Krishna find themselves irresistibly drawn back to one another, despite the differences in their class and background. But this is not the India they once knew. Their country is changing, burning from the inside out. Irumi is no longer safe. 'A heart-wrenching tale of forbidden love.' Washington Post 'Rao's illuminating tale of moral corruption and redemptive love is beautifully crafted [and] heralds a terrific new talent.' Observer 'A spellbinding epic of land, class and family in post-independence India.' Aube Rey Lescure