An Obedient Father

A darkly humorous and unsettling portrayal of political corruption and familial shame in modern India, Akhil Sharma's An Obedient Father is a gripping debut novel.

"My general incompetence and laziness at work had been apparent for so long that I now think it was arrogant of Mr. Gupta to pick me as his money man. I am the type of person who does not make sure that a file includes all the pages it must have or that the pages are in the right order. I refuse to accept even properly placed blame, lying outright that somebody else misplaced the completed forms or spilled tea on them, even though I was the last one to sign them out, or had the soggy papers still on my desk."

Ram Karan, an inspector for the Physical Education Department in the Delhi school system, supports his widowed daughter and eight-year-old granddaughter by collecting bribes for a small-time Congress Party boss. On the eve of Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, one reckless act exposes a lifetime of violence and sexual shame behind Ram's dingy public career, entangling him in a farcical yet terrifying political campaign that could cost him his life.

A stunning character study and portrait of a family and nation haunted by the past, An Obedient Father evokes Dostoyevsky's guilt-ridden anti-heroes in this fully realized tale of political intrigue and personal reckoning set in New Delhi. Akhil Sharma's corrosive wit and unflinching insight make this a memorable debut.