Vikas Swarup’s new novel, The Girl With the Seven Lives (Simon & Schuster India: 2024), opens with its main character Devi locked in a room, forced to retell her life’s story. Or, rather, her life’s stories–starting in the slums of Delhi, Devi reinvents herself time-and-time-again, with a new name and a new backstory, as she tries to carve a niche for herself in Indian society–only to be knocked back down, and be forced to start anew, with a new name.

Vikas joins the show today to talk about his novel, which settings are perhaps ripped from the headlines, and what The Girl with the Seven Lives says about the idea of meritocracy.

Vikas Swarup is a former diplomat, television host and best-selling author who gained global recognition with his debut novel, Q&A (Scribner: 2005). It was filmed as the multiple-Oscar-winning ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. His second book Six Suspects (Random House: 2008) was converted into a nine-part web series titled ‘The Great Indian Murder’, which premiered on Disney+Hotstar and Hulu on the 4th of February, 2022 and became the most watched Hotstar Special ever. His third novel, The Accidental Apprentice (Simon and Schuster UK: 2013), is also being adapted for the screen.

You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of The Girl With the Seven Lives. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia.

Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon.

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