Nari

Book excerpt: Army man found dead in Banjara Hills. Only witnesses - wife and servant. Unconfirmed reports of rape. Can the truth be revealed? Nari is a chronicle of sexual abuse told from the points of view of the victim and the perpetrator. Set in present-day Hyderabad, when Ramya Tirthankar, the young wife of a retired army man, and their seventeen-year-old servant, Narayana - lovingly called 'Nari' - accuse each other of rape. Layered and disturbingly lyrical, filled with shock, empathy and trauma, Nari uncovers questions related to human sexual behaviour, power play and how gender inequalities are built into our very genes.