PRESS RELEASE
DOUBLE BILL: PARO-PRIYA
Namita Gokhale
Paperback | 328pp | Rs 399
January 2018
Delhi, 8th January 2018: Penguin Random House India is pleased to publish Double Bill: Paro-Priya by Namita Gokhale, one classic volume that brings together two critically-acclaimed novels Paro: Dreams of Passion and Priya: Take Two for the first time. Specially designed as a flip-flop double bill edition, with gorgeous new covers, this book is a celebration of all that it has meant to be a woman in ‘Incredible Indyaa’.
Namita Gokhale, at the time of publication of Paro
Namita Gokhale’s pioneering debut and its sequel span a generation and an era, moving from the eighties to the post-millennial Indian society.
First published in 1984, to both notoriety and critical acclaim, Paro remains a social comedy without parallel in contemporary Indian writing. Paro, heroic temptress, glides like an exotic bird of prey through the world of privilege and Scotch that the rich of Bombay and Delhi inhabit. She is observed closely by the acid Priya, voyeur and obsessive diarist. An unforgettable cast of characters bring a glittering, toxic world of power, money and greed to life, with the scandalous cult classic Paro: Dreams of Passion.
Cut to 2011 – Priya: Take Two continues this ride through a world best viewed through a glass of Scotch, as Priya battles social vertigo and learns lessons in survival on her spirited journey to the top.
Wickedly funny, occasionally tender, and utterly unforgettable, Paro and Priya have been game-changers in the landscape of women’s writing of the Indian subcontinent. This volume takes the liberated, brazen and all-too human Paro and her natural counterpart, the more cautious Priya to new readers and old.
Namita Gokhale is the author of sixteen books, including nine works of fiction and seven works of non-fiction. She is the founder and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival and of Mountain Echoes, the Bhutan literary festival. Namita Gokhale is on the long list for the 2018 Dublin Literary Award.
On the occasion of the publication, she says, “My debut novel ‘Paro: Dreams of Passion’ has reached out to generations of readers since it first came out, almost a quarter century ago. I picked up the story of some of the memorable characters from ‘Paro’ in the sequel, ‘Priya’ , which was published in 2011. It’s delightful to have them in a single flip edition, with an elegant and evocative cover that summons the mood and texture of those times.”
For more information, please contact Smit Zaveri at szaveri@penguinrandomhouse.in