An Emory University study from last year suggests
that reading fiction can enhance the neural
connectivity in your brain, though it’s not clear how
long the impact lasts. Empathy,
apparently, can be understood
biologically, not merely in a figurative
sense.
So, as the summer holidays
begin, what better reason is
there to read fiction, apart from
the pleasure it provides? Among
many new novels, we can include
Pia Padukone’s debut, Where Earth
Meets Water (Harlequin), a Barnes and Noble featured
title. Was the protagonist Karom Sheth’s lucky escape
from two tragedies—9/11 and the 2004 tsunami—a blessing or a curse? Next, Jerry Pinto’s novel,
Em and the Big Hoom, winner of The Hindu Literary
Prize in 2012, is being released by Penguin.
Another debut novel is from Bangladesh-born Zia
Haider Rahman, who has worked as a human rights
lawyer and an investment banker on Wall Street. His
widely praised In the Light of What We Know (Farrar,
Straus and Giroux) tells the story of two men—one
with roots in Pakistan, the other in Bangladesh.
Then there is The City Son (Soho Press), a new
novel from Nepal-born Samrat Upadhyay. In this
dark love story, the attention a
disregarded wife lavishes on her
husband’s illegitimate son has profound
consequences.
And if you’re heading to
the beach, how about picking
up A.X. Ahmad’s fast-paced
thriller? He brings back his
hero Ranjit Singh, who is now a
New York cabbie in the noirish
The Last Taxi Ride (Minotaur).