MUDRITHA: A NOVEL

One April, thirty-year-old Aniruddhan goes to the police station with a a woman named Mudritha has disappeared. He has, however, never met her; only interacted with her on the phone and by email while organizing, at her request, a tour to Odisha for herself and nine others - all women. After preliminary inquiries, though, the case is likely to be closed for want of progress. But Vanitha, the policewoman in charge, continues the investigation secretly. What begins as a search for Mudritha soon reveals more about the other women, a diverse group, who want to slip away, travel and touch the world beyond the mundane confines of their existence.

Jissa Jose's Mudritha explores women's their desires, ambitions, love, anger, and attempts to resist and rise above the encroachment over their bodies and souls. Set in contemporary Kerala, the novel is a compelling portrait of women and the sojourns they make to find themselves - its every surge, every swell enlivened in this English translation by Jayasree Kalathil.