Island

Nirmal Chandra Mattoo has lived in Port Blair, in the Andamans, for thirty years. He is regarded as an authority on the islands' tribes, especially the Jarawas and the Sentinelese, yet he now runs a souvenir shop that sells fake tribal artifacts to tourists who do not know better. Behind the counter he keeps dark secrets and a long, tangled history with the people of the islands.

One day an American missionary walks in and asks for help reaching North Sentinel Island, where he hopes to bring the Sentinelese to Jesus. Mattoo agrees, though he has serious doubts. The Sentinelese are among the last uncontacted peoples on earth, a stone-age society that has stayed isolated for thousands of years, and their hostility has made the island off limits to outsiders.

The missionary goes ahead regardless, and Mattoo, serving as his guide, becomes caught in a situation he cannot get out of. The fate of the Sentinelese, his own fate and that of the Indian State converge in a catastrophic climax.

The novel is a sharp examination of nationhood, citizenship, the lives of people on the margins, and what it means to be Indian today.