Saraswati

A dizzyingly transcontinental ecological epic … Saraswati most certainly delivers, darting thrillerishly around the world to fold chewy themes of empire, populism and global warming into a cross-generational epic centred on seven strangers * Observer, ‘Best new novelists for 2025’ * A surging, roaring deluge of a novel, which ebbs and flows with a flood of wonderfully overlapping stories. I absolutely loved it – Jon McGregor, author of Reservoir 13 Saraswati is an extraordinary novel: gripping, funny, epic, elegant, and full of preternatural wisdom. Johal’s greatest strength is his ability to show the world as inexhaustibly fascinating, a vast and wondrous meshwork of interlocking stories. Saraswati is a major achievement, and Johal a huge talent. This should be one of the biggest novels of the year – Martin MacInnes, Booker-longlisted author of In Ascension A bold, intriguing tapestry of near-future tales: part absurdist political satire, part folkloric meditation, part ecological parable, this novel pulses with a frenetic energy that brings together a cast of beguiling characters – Aube Rey Lescure, Women’s Prize-shortlisted author of River East, River West Immersive, erudite, intimate and epic, a weaving of lives and stories, old and new, into something vast and very special. Saraswati sounds a note of hope, and a warning for our future – Preti Taneja, award-winning author of We That Are Young Capacious and brilliant. It has all the sweeping ambition of a great epic with the intimate genius of a master short story writer – Anna Metcalfe, Granta Best of Young British Novelists author of Chrysalis A fast-moving action novel that sweeps through many times, people, and places - it’s full of life. I loved the torrent of stories, and Johal’s sharp, insightful sense of humour – Daisy Hildyard, author of Emergency An ambitious panoramic portrait * Guardian * Praise for Gurnaik Johal * : * Virtuosic * Guardian * Exceptional * Financial Times * Johal has catapulted himself into the front rank – Rahul Raina

Gurnaik Johal is a writer from West London born in 1998. He was shortlisted for the Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize in 2018 and graduated from the University of Manchester in 2019. He works in children’s publishing.