The Labyrinth

Middle of the week, in front of the school where she drops off her son every day, Draupadi witnesses something grotesque. The ludicrous ways of fate leave the ball in her court—should she inform the police, or hold on to the safety of her little boy, her husband miles away in a forest battling his own demons? Does one dare explore the limits of courage when the stakes are life and safety?

From the pen of one of Odisha’s most inventive writers comes a novel of quiet perseveration and struggle for a better life within the parametres of genteel norms and bureaucracy. Taut with atmospheric tension in Manoranjan Mishra’s artful translation, The Labyrinth is an immersive tale of the price of one’s difficult choices in fidelity to familial responsibilities and the intimate, hallucinatory voice of conscience.