Description

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

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

Publisher Review

An extraordinary debut… everything in Saraswati works beautifully. Johal has written a major novel, and at his very first attempt * Telegraph, Five-Star Review * Hugely ambitious, intense and dizzying … Johal’s expansive vision and propulsive story-telling mark him as a talent * Daily Mail * An ambitious, stylishly delivered novel … reminiscent of Salman Rushdie and resembling the energy and range of David Mitchell’s Ghostwritten and Zadie Smith’s White Teeth — John Self * Observer * An epic novel that deserves to be widely read — Naoise Dolan * Irish Times * An excellent novel * Daily Express * A surging, roaring deluge of a novel, which ebbs and flows with a flood of wonderfully overlapping stories. I absolutely loved it — Jon McGregor, author of Reservoir 13 Thrilling … an intricately patterned portrait of the Punjabi diaspora * Times Literary Supplement * One of the most exciting voices in British fiction * Shruti Chauhan, BBC Radio * A dizzyingly transcontinental ecological epic … Saraswati most certainly delivers, darting thrillerishly around the world to fold chewy themes of empire, populism and global warming into a cross-generational epic centred on seven strangers * Observer, ‘Best new novelists for 2025’ * Beautifully written. A fascinating, accomplished debut * Buzz Magazine * A bold, intriguing tapestry of near-future tales: part absurdist political satire, part folkloric meditation, part ecological parable, this novel pulses with a frenetic energy that brings together a cast of beguiling characters — Aube Rey Lescure, Women’s Prize-shortlisted author of River East, River West Saraswati is an extraordinary novel: gripping, funny, epic, elegant, and full of preternatural wisdom. Johal’s greatest strength is his ability to show the world as inexhaustibly fascinating, a vast and wondrous meshwork of interlocking stories. Saraswati is a major achievement, and Johal a huge talent. This should be one of the biggest novels of the year — Martin MacInnes, Booker-longlisted author of In Ascension Immersive, erudite, intimate and epic, a weaving of lives and stories, old and new, into something vast and very special. Saraswati sounds a note of hope, and a warning for our future — Preti Taneja, award-winning author of We That Are Young Capacious and brilliant. It has all the sweeping ambition of a great epic with the intimate genius of a master short story writer — Anna Metcalfe, Granta Best of Young British Novelists author of Chrysalis A polyphonic novel about contemporary India and the intersection of far-right politics and religion, all told through a rotating cast of characters, a magic river and marriage that reverberates through generations. It’s a sumptuous, sweeping read — Nikesh Shukla, bestselling creator of The Good Immigrant Johal has tremendous power as a writer, crafting some fiercely beautiful, often visionary chapters * Big Issue * A fast-moving action novel that sweeps through many times, people, and places – it’s full of life. I loved the torrent of stories, and Johal’s sharp, insightful sense of humour — Daisy Hildyard, author of Emergency Saraswati is a big and ambitious novel in which Johal connects history, global politics, the consequences of empire, world poverty and the climate crisis… He [Johal] has the right to rage about the state of the world his generation are inheriting and he expresses it with real passion * Strong Words * An ambitious panoramic portrait * Guardian * An ambitious novel about climate, politics, and migration that is the perfect read for anyone who loves a meaty novel with interweaving narratives — Chrissy Ryan * Nerve Best Books of 2025 * Admirable … takes real skill * London Review of Books * A rich tapestry, occasionally bewildering, often beguiling … Grappling with complex ideas, brave in its effort to parse inequality, and principled in its attempts to connect the strands of colonialism, authoritarianism and climate collapse, Saraswati is a welcome shift from the family dramas and autofictions that have tended to dominate literary renderings of India * The New York Times *