Penguin Random House India is thrilled to announce the acquisition, from A Suitable Agency, of celebrated author Amrita Mahale’s much-anticipated second novel, Real Life. Set to be published under the Hamish Hamilton imprint in July 2025, Real Life is a profound and multilayered exploration of love, loss, nature, and the human condition.
The novel tells the story of Tara, a young wildlife biologist who mysteriously vanishes in the remote Mahamaya Valley of the Himalayas. Told through three distinct perspectives, it delves deep into Tara’s disappearance while also offering an intimate glimpse into the lives of the narrators. The book seamlessly weaves themes of female friendship, the rise of AI and surveillance, and the ongoing tension between personal aspirations and societal expectations. Urgent and poignant, Real Life invites readers into a vivid world of emotional and intellectual complexity.
Amrita Mahale reflects on her journey with this novel, ‘Real Life is an urgent and deeply personal novel that examines the ways in which women “disappear” from the world. In a world where conformity is rewarded, artificial intelligence is ascendant, and surveillance is ever-present, the novel asks what it means for a woman to seek a more authentic, real existence. It took me six years to write Real Life, and I am thrilled that the book has found a home at Penguin Random House. To be published under the ‘Hamish Hamilton’ imprint is a writer’s dream, and I feel very privileged that my book is in the hands of a passionate, brilliant team.’
Archana Nathan, Senior Commissioning Editor at Penguin Random House India, says, ‘Mahale’s new novel Real Life is ambitious and poignant, especially in the way it explores a woman’s place in the world. It is at once an existential novel that delves deep into all that we, women, ache to make our lives about and all that the world around us forces us to make our lives about. It is also a wonderful novel about female friendship, which is often unparalleled in its complexity, filled with love and warmth but also ugliness and cruelty. Mahale’s writing awes, inspires while also stings and brings you to tears. We are thrilled and proud to publish this stunning piece of fiction and cannot wait for the subcontinent to read it.
Milee Ashwarya, Publisher, Adult Publishing Division, Penguin Random House India, says, ‘Amrita Mahale has the unique gift of capturing complex human emotions in words, and weaving them beautifully in her stories. Poignant and powerful, her new novel Real Life, explores relationships between women and how their fates are intertwined. I am thrilled that she has chosen Hamish Hamilton as the home for Real Life, and I am delighted to welcome her to Penguin Random House India.’
Amrita Mahale’s debut novel, Milk Teeth, created a sensation when it was first published in 2018. It was shortlisted for the Crossword Book Award and longlisted for both the JCB Prize for Literature and the Tata Literature Live! First Book Award. With Real Life, Mahale further cements her place as a literary force to be reckoned with.