WINNER OF THE JCB PRIZE FOR LITERATURE
WINNER OF THE TATA LITerature LIVE FIRST BOOK AWARD
WINNER OF THE CROSSWORD BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION
WINNER OF THE TIMES OF INDIA AUTHER AWARD FOR FICTION
WINNER OF THE WISCONSIN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION AWARD
FINALIST FOR THE SAHITYA AKADEMI AWARD
FINALIST FOR THE DSC PRIZE FOR SOUTH ASIAN LITERATURE
FINALIST FOR THE MATHRUBHUMI BOOK OF THE YEAR
LONGLISTED FOR THE swansea university DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD
LONGLISTED FOR THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR excellence in FICTION
AN INDIES INTRODUCE AND INDIE NEXT TITLE
A BARNES & NOBLE DISCOVER GREAT NEW WRITERS SELECTION
NAMED A NOTABLE BOOK OF 2019 BY THE WASHINGTON POST, THE ECONOMIST, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, THE TIMES, BOOKLIST
In the wake of her mother's death, Shalini, a privileged, naive and restless young woman from Bangalore, sets out for a remote Himalayan village in the troubled northern region of Jammu & Kashmir. Certain that the loss of her mother is connected to the decade-old disappearance of Bashir Ahmed, a charming Kashmiri salesman who frequented her childhood home, she is determined to confront him. But upon her arrival, Shalini is brought face to face with Kashmir's politics, as well as the tangled history of the local family that takes her in. When life in the village turns volatile and old hatreds threaten to erupt into violence, Shalini finds herself forced to make a series of choices that could hold dangerous repercussions for the very people she has come to love.
PRAISE FOR THE FAR FIELD
“Consuming . . . Vijay’s command of storytelling is so supple that it’s easy to discount the stealth with which she constructs her tale, shifting time frames with seamless ease and juggling a wealth of characters who cling to the heart.” – NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
“Ambitious . . . Vijay’s descriptions of the mountains, the people and their everyday lives are beautiful, and that makes the hidden ugliness all the more disturbing; this is a seriously impressive debut.” – THE TIMES
“A beautifully nuanced tale in these times of no nuance . . . A febrile tension pulsates on each page of this coming-of-age story…[A]n accomplished debut.” – THE HINDU
“A masterful piece of fiction. Vijay writes with an assurance surprising in a first-time novelist, and is a delight to read.” – OBSERVER
“Vijay probes grand themes—tribalism, despotism, betrayal, death, resurrection—in exquisite but unflowery prose, and with sincere sentiment but little sentimentality.” – NEW YORKER
“The Far Field offers something essential: a chance to glimpse the lives of distant people captured in prose gorgeous enough to make them indelible — and honest enough to make them real.” – WASHINGTON POST
“Ms. Vijay is an effortlessly assured prose writer . . . The Far Field is illuminating about the persecutions in Kashmir, but at its heart it is about the ironclad laws of class by which all India is ruled.” – WALL STREET JOURNAL
“Vijay’s mastery of traditional narrative skills wouldn’t be out of place in a classic 19th-century novel . . . The Far Field is an impressive performance. It will be fascinating to see what Vijay does next.” – SUNDAY TIMES
“A courageous, insightful and affecting debut novel.” – ECONOMIST
“[S]upremely accomplished. . . an expansive and wonderfully immersive work . . . This is a stunning novel that skillfully grapples with the complexities of human relationships. Madhuri Vijay's career looks very bright indeed.” – MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE
“Luminous in outlining a young woman’s struggle to shape her own life . . . [A] remarkable story, and Vijay is likely to be a talent to watch.” – FINANCIAL TIMES
“Stunning . . . The Far Field chafes against the useless pity of outsiders and instead encourages a much more difficult solution: cross-cultural empathy.” – PARIS REVIEW
“Precise, restrained and possessing a lightness of touch that eludes most writers…[M]ost thrilling in its heralding of a voice that is completely assured, and conveys a rare emotional wisdom while sidestepping any hints of the mawkish.” – INDIAN EXPRESS
“[A] layered examination of pressing Indian political conflicts . . . Here is a singular story of mother and daughter — a loving, broken bond so strong it touches, changes, and hurts countless lives beyond theirs.” – ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
“Arresting . . . captures Kashmir’s everyday horror with exhilarating, puissant prose . . . The Far Field stands as an important reminder that all privilege is, in the end, political.” – BOMB MAGAZINE
“Vijay's descriptive powers and eloquent prose work brilliantly . . . Vijay's writing is socially astute, exploring taboos of mental illness, female sexuality and religious indifference . . . remarkably vivid.” – SHELF AWARENESS
“Vijay is an astute chronicler of the everyday emotions that roil seemingly calm lives… She is also a sharp observer of the myriad ways in which the Indian aspirational classes gloss over the state violence in Kashmir.” – INDIA TODAY
“History, class prejudice, Indian politics, grief, guilt and the limits of compassion intertwine in this enthralling debut.” – NEWSWEEK
“Hauntingly beautiful . . . The Far Field is rich in poignancy, in story and characters.” – HINDUSTAN TIMES
“In Madhuri Vijay’s exquisite debut novel, The Far Field, grief propels a young woman to northern India, where she seeks answers about her mother’s past. She meets people and communities constantly on the brink of political violence, upending her assumptions about herself and her country.” – ELLE
“An impressive debut.” – COSMOPOLITAN UK
“Vijay provides that alchemical mix of political examination with personal journey that deepens all great novels . . . [A] necessary and lovely work.” – SOUTHERN LIVING
“Deals with big questions—Indian politics, class, history and sexuality—through beautiful prose.” – HUFFINGTON POST INDIA
“Vijay is brilliant in capturing the anomie born of deep loneliness and repressed, raw emotions . . . The Far Field, while tracing a difficult narrative of vast political, cultural, and humanitarian import, does not offer easy, totalising, and predictable resolutions.” – SCROLL INDIA
“Go read this absorbing and remarkable first book. And look out for future writing from Madhuri Vijay.” – DECCAN HERALD
“Vijay intertwines her story's threads with dazzling skill. Dense, layered, impossible to pin—or put—down, her first novel is an engrossing tale of love and grief, politics and morality. Combining up-close character studies with finely plotted drama, this is a triumphant, transporting debut.” – BOOKLIST (starred)
“[R]emarkable . . . an engrossing narrative of individual angst played out against political turmoil . . . Vijay’s stunning debut novel expertly intertwines the personal and political to pick apart the history of Jammu and Kashmir.” – PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred)
“Dazzling . . . Vijay’s prose is exquisite…[A] scintillating novel from a truly gifted writer.” – BOOKPAGE (starred)
“Narrating Shalini's journey in chapters that alternate between past and present and utilizing strong characterizations throughout, Vijay has crafted an engaging, suspenseful, and impressive debut.” – LIBRARY JOURNAL
“Vivid . . . [E]legant, calm prose and intense evocations of people and places . . . A striking debut.” – KIRKUS REVIEWS
"The Far Field stands out as a debut novel because it displays two acts of courage: one, at just about 450 pages, it has heft . . . Vijay is not afraid to tell a long and complex story on a large canvas . . Her second act of courage is presenting her reader people that are not easy to like…This is a mature book, even when it wears its political heart on its sleeve.” – Arshia Sattar, EXPLOCITY BANGALORE
“The Far Field is an irresistible blend of moral subtlety and intellectual precision. Ingeniously conceived and elegantly written, it is a first novel of startling accomplishment.” – PANKAJ MISHRA, author of Age of Anger
“A strikingly unusual book full of beauty and surprise.” – SONIA FALEIRO, author of Beautiful Thing
“Vijay’s characters are compelling and beguiling, and she superbly balances the complexity of her narrator against the conflict in Kashmir without allowing the latter to be reduced to a mere backdrop. The Far Field is incisive and utterly enthralling.” – SIDDHARTHA DEB, author of The Beautiful and the Damned
“Madhuri Vijay traces the fault lines of history, love, and obligation running through a fractured family and country. Few novels generate enough power to transform their characters, fewer still their readers. The Far Field does both.” – ANTHONY MARRA, author of The Tsar of Love and Techno
“I loved this novel. Shalini is an utterly convincing narrator, particularly in her naïveté, which might very well serve as a metaphor for her country's refusal to see what it has wrought in Kashmir. Madhuri Vijay has written a brilliant and important book.” – LIAQUAT AHAMED, author of Lords of Finance
“I am in awe of Madhuri Vijay. With poised and measured grace, The Far Field tells a story as immediate and urgent as life beyond the page. I will think of these characters – tender and complex, mysterious and flawed, remarkably real to me – for years to come.” – ANNA NOYES, author of Goodnight, Beautiful Women
“I had to remind myself while reading The Far Field that this is the work of a debut novelist, and not a mid-career book by a master writer at the height of her powers . . . Only the very best novels are experienced, as opposed to merely read, and this is one of those rare and brilliant novels.” – BEN FOUNTAIN, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
“This riveting and utterly unique book faces the most troubling and insoluble questions with a bold, keen clarity that has no patience for anything less than the most complete truth.” – MERRITT TIERCE, author of Love Me Back
“Utterly immersive and vividly realized, The Far Field is that rare gem of a novel which effortlessly transports the reader into distant, unfamiliar terrain through the force of a story deeply anchored in the humanity of its characters.” – ELLIOT ACKERMAN, author of Red Dress in Black and White
“Stunning in its artistry, in its engagement with the world and the personal, this is a profound and monumental achievement composed with rage, vulnerability, humor, grief, and mystery.” – PAUL YOON, author of Run Me to Earth
