There is a fairytale quality to Ruthvika Rao’s epic story of love and tumult in post-partition India with its cruel landowner, unforgiving mother and forbidden lovers attempting to surmount caste and background. Rao was born in Warangal district, Telangana, and grew up in Hyderabad, where her novel is partly set. The Fertile Earth opens in the village of Irumi in 1970. Five members of the landowning Deshmukh family have been executed by the Naxalites, communist insurgents. Rao takes us back to 1955, allowing us to follow the tide of injustices that led to this moment.
Vijaya and Sree are the nieces of Surendra Deshmukh, the feudal landowner. Krishna and Ranga are the sons of a widowed servant in the Deshmukh household. When rebellious Vijaya and Krishna become friends at school they form a dangerous attachment. The children’s lives are torn apart after an accident leaves Sree badly injured. Vijaya is blamed by her mother, Saroja, and lives with the burden of her guilt, Krishna is sent away to school in Hyderabad, while Ranga is beaten into submission by Surendra. Years later, Vijay and Krishna’s paths cross once more and they struggle against familial expectations and a rapidly changing political landscape to make a life together.
Rao, a 2022 graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, tackles complex themes with real skill, although there are a few holes in her characterisation. The reason behind Surendra’s brutality is never fully explored: “Mercy, he often thought, without the presence of cruelty, had the valency of impotence. He had never been a man to be trifled with.” And although Rao hints at postnatal depression as the cause for Saroja’s “inexplicable grudge against her own firstborn”, her devastating lack of affection is cursorily examined: “It seemed there were sides, and Saroja wanted everyone on hers.”
Otherwise, Rao’s illuminating tale of moral corruption and redemptive love is beautifully crafted. Deservedly longlisted for America’s Center for Fiction First Novel prize, The Fertile Earth heralds a terrific new talent.
• The Fertile Earth by Ruthvika Rao is published by Oneworld (£16.99). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply
