BOOKS
HOW TO GET PUBLISHED IN INDIA (Bloomsbury, 2019)
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
#1 on Amazon’s Hot New Releases and #1 on Amazon's Bestseller List, How To Get Published In India is India’s first and only comprehensive guide book on how to write, publish and sell a book. Launched at the Jaipur Literature Festival, the book also includes never-before collected essays from industry experts including Jeffrey Archer, Shobhaa De, Twinkle Khanna, Ashwin Sanghi, Meena Kandasamy, Durjoy Datta, Preeti Shenoy, Rashmi Bansal, Ravi Subramanian and many more.
I wish I had this book when I started my career as an author. Do read it. – Amish Tripathi
An excellent book with a whole lot of common sense. – Shobhaa De
A useful guide to navigate the often-opaque Indian publishing industry, the book fills a vacuum in the market. – Times of India
Helps you understand the hush-hush world of publishing – The Hindu
A guide to anyone interested in writing, publishing and selling any kind of book. – Mumbai Mirror
Paving the way for writers. – The New Indian Express
Gives readers and first-time authors a peek into the inside world of publishing. – Sakal Times
BOYS DON’T CRY (Penguin Random House, 2022)
When Maneka Pataudi is arrested as the prime suspect for the murder of her ex-husband, she reveals a chilling tale of marital abuse and neglect. But is her confession the truth or a lie? Is she telling the story as a victim or a perpetrator? And, is it better for women to kill for love or be killed for it? Based on a true story (mostly), Boys Don't Cry is a gripping, compelling and courageous novel that takes you behind the closed doors of a modern Indian marriage.
With Boys Don't Cry, Meghna Pant captivates you the way very few books do. A work of power, intimacy and magic. — Anees Salim
A story that screams––don’t mess with women. — Shobhaa De
With this exquisite, uplifting and courageous novel, one of India's best authors strikes and kills, yet again. — Aditi Mittal
THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, VERY BAD GOOD NEWS (Penguin, 2021)
SOON TO BE SEEN AS A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE BADNAM LADOO
The Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Good News is a novel about small-town Ladoo, who scandalises her conservative family, when she decides to use a donor to have a baby, while continuing to look for her Mr Right.
Meghna Pant’s new book is an indispensable read. — Platform Magazine
The pursuit of pregnancy (and love) is a comic act in this novel — Scroll
The book takes the conversation ahead. — Deccan Chronicle
Defines motherhood in the 21st century. — Midday
Finally! The woman-centric comedy we’ve been waiting for. — Kaneez Surka
Important social issues in fun, accessible writing. Can’t wait to see it made into a film. — Lisa Ray
One of the funniest and most pertinent books of our time. — Anu Menon
Witty and extremely relevant. — Maanvi Gagroo
With this book, Meghna Pant proves that she’s funnier—and, Sorabh Pant agrees—than her brother. — Atul Khatri
A hysterical family drama that should be read by every woman, and all men. — Abish Mathew
ONE & A HALF WIFE (Westland, 2012)
Unlike most Indian immigrants, Amara Malhotra is not destined to achieve the American Dream. Much to the anxiety of her parents – the spirited Biji and the doting Baba – Amara leads an unremarkable life. That is, until she marries Harvard-educated millionaire, Prashant Roy. However, this fairy-tale isn’t meant to last, and even as Amara’s marriage collapses, she finds herself returning to the land of her birth, to the small city of Shimla. Here, in a borough grappling with questions of modernity, Amara is caught in a tug-of-war between old beliefs and new ones, between parents who favour obedience and new friends who encourage independent thought. With powerful insights, One & a Half Wife traces the coming-of-age of multiple characters, while re-defining family, relationships and love in contemporary India.
Pant's debut novel won the national MUSE INDIA YOUNG WRITER AWARD (2013) and was shortlisted for several other awards, including the AMAZON BREAKTHROUGH NOVEL AWARD. On the bestseller list across many bookstores, the novel went into multiple reprints.
A competent debut. — Jerry Pinto
The book is a must read. — The Deccan Chronicle
A delightful debut novel. —Sakal Times
The narrative keeps you turning the pages till the very end — The Sunday Standard
Pant is elegiac — a testament to her emotional wisdom as a writer. Her sensitivity to the multidimensionality of the issues and her eye for the detail of social interactions result in an intelligent, satisfying read. — The Gulf News
An exceedingly readable novel. — The National
A well-crafted warm story. — The Indian Express
HAPPY BIRTHDAY (Random House India, 2013)
A beautifully written, compelling and emotionally intelligent collection of short stories, Happy Birthday was published to critical acclaim and longlisted for the FRANK O'CONNOR PRIZE (2014), the world's biggest short story award, and selected among the WORLD'S TOP 10 MOST MEMORABLE SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS by Wikipedia.
In the front row of Indian short fiction. — The Sunday Guardian
Meghna Pant’s short stories stick like burrs. They are small, dramatic pieces that hook into the skin with urgent claims that are not easy to resolve or brush off. — The Asian Age
Deft, merciless, expertly-tuned stories. — Jeet Thayil
Pant creates characters that will surprise and move you. — Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Exceptionally thought-provoking narrative that is provocative & inspirational. — Ashwin Sanghi
These intimate stories juxtapose a range and register of aerial and emotional perspectives, with craft, delicacy and an intensely human sensibility. — Namita Gokhale
FEMINIST RANI (Penguin Random House, 2018)
Feminist Rani is a collection of interviews with path-breaking and fascinating opinion leaders - Kalki Koechlin, Tanmay Bhatt, Gul Panag, Aditi Mittal, Gauri Sawant, and many more. These are women and men who have advocated gender equality and women's rights through their work. These compelling conversations provide a perspective on the evolving concept of feminism in an age when women are taking charge and leading the way.
A powerful, sensitive and thought-provoking book that is a must-read for anyone who thinks that women and men are equals, and for those who don’t. — Kamla Bhasin
The feminist flag . . . is being held high increasingly by women, transpeople—and even the occasional man!—from all walks of life. — Urvashi Butalia
A much-needed book that captures the realities of our times. — Mallika Dua
THE TROUBLE WITH WOMEN (Juggernaut, 2016)
Pant's second short story collection is considered a landmark in feminist writing. The evocative and poignant stories address sensitive dilemmas faced by Indian women, with themes such as molestation, abortion, sexual harassment, domestic violence and senicide.
The most unsettling short fiction I’ve read all year. Consistently smart and sure-footed, a collection that never insults the intelligence of its readers. This is the best book from the Juggernaut stable. —The Hindu Business Line
Smart, sexy and very dark. — Chiki Sarkar
Pant will leave a stamp on Indian fiction. — Jaya Bhattacharji Rose
Tales of women from across urban and rural India, the book captures the social realities of what they undergo. — The Hindustan Times
THE HOLY 100 (Rupa, 2019)
In this ground-breaking book, The Holy 100, award-winning author, Meghna Pant has rewritten three of India’s greatest epics – the Mahabharata, Ramayana and Gita – in one hundred points each, just for you! That means that your Mahabharata - the world's longest epic with 1.8 million words --is less than 2400 words (the size of a menu card!). Your Ramayana is less than 3400 words, and your Gita is 2000 words long. More so, each point can fit in a tweet! Try it. These are quite possibly the shortest and pithiest versions of these epics that exist in the world today!
The media interest in this story was huge with all the major newspapers and online portals in India (The Times of India, The Hindu, The Indian Express, The Asian Age, CNN-IBN, MidDay, Hindustan Times, The Deccan Chronicle, The Financial Express, DNA, Sakal Times, Pune Mirror, Rediff.com) covering it. It also received international exposure with the Oprah Book Club mentioning it on Twitter.
Somehow, Meghna Pant has managed to contain all of the dynamics of power struggle, war, love, lust and greed in her 140 character tidbits. Wonderfully descriptive and paced. — The Guardian
THE MAN WHO LOST INDIA (Simon & Schuster, 2023)
The year is 2032. China declares war on India. Pillage and plunder ensues. The war comes to an abrupt halt when a supernatural event saves the obscure town of Lalbag from annihilation. Even as China renews its efforts to invade Lalbag, a greater calamity awaits this sleepy town. A Chinese cop stumbles upon a dangerous secret that threatens to end the town’s immunity. A fierce and forbidden love between a servant and his mistress destroys two families. Meanwhile, the town’s richest man becomes afflicted with a terrible disease, the town beauty goes mad when her love betrays, and a psychic turns water into blood, sending the town and its people deeper into tragedy. A dystopian never-been-done-before tale set in – and between – China and India, THE MAN WHO LOST INDIA is a powerful portrayal of love, strife and family in the wake of 21st century’s biggest war. Incantatory and atmospheric, this is Meghna Pant’s most ambitious novel yet, full of beauty, bloodshed and undeniable feminist power.