"When an accident leaves her husband bedridden, Ruth leaves her home in search of a job to look after her family. From the highlands of Wayanad, she goes to the deserts of Riyadh and Dubai, and after many trials and tribulations, eventually arrives in Nazareth, Israel, where she finds work as a caregiver. Here, she experiences the historical Holy Land, beloved to many religions, up close-its culture, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the condition of the people of Palestine-and comes to terms with her own wounds of exodus. In her beguiling, transporting new novel, Sheela Tomy weaves together the struggles of several peoples under siege. And through them, she also tells of the indomitable river of love and humanity that flows across the boundaries drawn by nationhood and religion."
"
Sheela Tomy is a novelist and short-story writer, hailing from Wayanad, Kerala.
Valli, her debut novel, was awarded the renowned Cherukad Award for Malayalam Literature in 2021. The English translation of Valli by Dr Jayasree Kalathil bagged the V. Abdulla Memorial Translation Award (2023). Valli was also shortlisted for the 2023 National Translation Award from the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA), the JCB Prize for Literature (2022), the Atta Galatta-BLF Book Prize (2022) and the Green LitFest Honour Books Award (2023). Valli also bagged the Book of the Year Award for translation by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in 2023.
Sheela is also the author of a short story collection Melquiadesnte Pralayapusthakam (Melquiades's Book of Floods) published in 2012. She has won several awards for her short stories, including the Abu Dhabi Arangu Award(2007), the Puzha.com Short Story Award (2008), Doha Sanskriti Award (2012),the Doha Samanwayam Award (2012), and the Kamala Surayya ‘Neermathalam' Award UAE (2014). Her recognitions include the Madhyamam She Q Excellence Award(2022), the KCBC Media Award for Literature (2023) and the ‘Ashayam' Basheer Award (2023).
Sheela has been residing in the Middle East for more than two decades. She has a post-graduate degree in journalism and mass communication and has contributed as a lyricist, scriptwriter for radios, and is a presenter of literary reviews. Sheela's articles on contemporary issues have been published in various media forums.
Aa Nadiyodu Peru Chodikkaruth (Don't Ask the River Her Name), her newest work, was awarded the Muthukulam Parvathy Amma Literature Prize and the Maniyoor Balan Novel Award in 2024.
Ministhy S. is an IAS officer working in the Uttar Pradesh cadre. In her civil services career, she has received various awards for excellence in governance including the Hindustan Times Woman of the Year Award, 2014 and The Sunday Standard Devi Award, 2016. XLRI Jamshedpur gave her the distinguished alumnus award in 2014.
She translates between three languages: Malayalam, English and Hindi. Her translation of The Poison of Love, by Malayalam novelist K.R. Meera, was longlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2017. The Unseeing Idol of Light, by the same author, was shortlisted for the Crossword Book Jury Award, 2018. She has translated three novels of V.J.JamesAntiClock, Nireeswaran and Dattapaharam.Anti-Clock, was shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Literature 2021. She has done the English transliteration of four cantos―Sundar Kanda, KishkindhaKanda, Aranya Kanda and Lanka Kanda―from Goswami Tulsidas's Sriramacharitmanas.
"
