AN OBSERVER BEST NEW NOVELIST 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2025

A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE INDEPENDENT, TELEGRAPH, NERVE AND GUARDIAN

'An ambitious, stylishly delivered novel ... Reminiscent of Salman Rushdie' OBSERVER

'Johal has written a major novel, and at his very first attempt' TELEGRAPH, 5-STAR REVIEW

'Saraswati is a major achievement, and Johal a huge talent. One of the biggest novels of the year' Martin MacInnes, Booker-longlisted author of In Ascension

Centuries ago, the myths say, the holy river Saraswati flowed through what is now Northern India. But when Satnam arrives in his ancestral village for his grandmother's funeral, he is astonished to find water in the long-dry well behind her house. The discovery sets in motion a contentious scheme to unearth the lost river and build a gleaming new city on its banks, and Satnam - adrift from his job, girlfriend and flat back in London - soon finds himself swept up in this ferment of Hindu nationalist pride.

As the river alters Satnam's course, so it reveals buried ties to six distant relatives scattered across the globe - from an ambitious writer with her eye on legacy to a Kenyan archaeologist to a Bollywood stunt double - who are brought together in a rapidly changing India. Brimming with love, lush, violence and loss, Gurnaik Johal's magisterial debut deftly animates the passions that bind us to our histories, our lands and each other.

AN OBSERVER BEST NEW NOVELIST 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2025

A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE INDEPENDENT, TELEGRAPH, NERVE AND GUARDIAN

'An ambitious, stylishly delivered novel … Reminiscent of Salman Rushdie' OBSERVER

'Johal has written a major novel, and at his very first attempt' TELEGRAPH, 5-STAR REVIEW

'Saraswati is a major achievement, and Johal a huge talent. One of the biggest novels of the year' Martin MacInnes, Booker-longlisted author of In Ascension

Centuries ago, the myths say, the holy river Saraswati flowed through what is now Northern India. But when Satnam arrives in his ancestral village for his grandmother's funeral, he is astonished to find water in the long-dry well behind her house. The discovery sets in motion a contentious scheme to unearth the lost river and build a gleaming new city on its banks, and Satnam – adrift from his job, girlfriend and flat back in London – soon finds himself swept up in this ferment of Hindu nationalist pride.

As the river alters Satnam's course, so it reveals buried ties to six distant relatives scattered across the globe – from an ambitious writer with her eye on legacy to a Kenyan archaeologist to a Bollywood stunt double – who are brought together in a rapidly changing India. Brimming with love, lush, violence and loss, Gurnaik Johal's magisterial debut deftly animates the passions that bind us to our histories, our lands and each other.

AN OBSERVER BEST NEW NOVELIST 2025 * A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE INDEPENDENT, TELEGRAPH, NERVE AND GUARDIAN *

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2026
LONGLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PROSE PRIZE 2026

'An ambitious, stylishly delivered novel ... Reminiscent of Salman Rushdie' OBSERVER

'Johal has written a major novel, and at his very first attempt' TELEGRAPH, 5-STAR REVIEW

When the waters of the Saraswati, a river of legend, start to rise in a corner of northern India, seven scattered descendants of a forbidden marriage are unexpectedly swept up in its current.

Satnam, adrift from his life in London, is drawn into a contentious scheme to restore the river. Nathu, an archaeologist, ventures from Nairobi to a dig site that might reveal artefacts of a lost civilisation. And elsewhere in former lands of empire - in Singapore, Canada, Mauritius and Pakistan - the ripples are felt across generations. Gurnaik Johal's panoramic debut deftly animates the passions that bind us to our histories and each other.

'A rich tapestry, occasionally bewildering, often beguiling' THE NEW YORK TIMES

AN OBSERVER BEST NEW NOVELIST 2025 * A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE INDEPENDENT, TELEGRAPH, NERVE AND GUARDIAN *

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2026
LONGLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PROSE PRIZE 2026

'An ambitious, stylishly delivered novel ... Reminiscent of Salman Rushdie' OBSERVER

'Johal has written a major novel, and at his very first attempt' TELEGRAPH, 5-STAR REVIEW

When the waters of the Saraswati, a river of legend, start to rise in a corner of northern India, seven scattered descendants of a forbidden marriage are unexpectedly swept up in its current.

Satnam, adrift from his life in London, is drawn into a contentious scheme to restore the river. Nathu, an archaeologist, ventures from Nairobi to a dig site that might reveal artefacts of a lost civilisation. And elsewhere in former lands of empire - in Singapore, Canada, Mauritius and Pakistan - the ripples are felt across generations. Gurnaik Johal's panoramic debut deftly animates the passions that bind us to our histories and each other.

'A rich tapestry, occasionally bewildering, often beguiling' THE NEW YORK TIMES