That books are transportive hardly needs reiterating, but some do it better than others. I’m in the middle of reading Rahul Bhattacharya’s Railsong and experiencing the most intense form of nostalgia. The novel, set in an imagined railway town named Bhombalpur, centres around Charulata Chitol, who dreams of being more than what her everyday life seems to be designed for. She escapes to Bombay (by train, of course), and thus begin her life’s adventures. For me, a railway kid who grew in Kharagpur, home to the erstwhile longest railway platform in the world (the town finds mention in the novel, by the way), the yellow quarters, bifurcated bungalows, the railway workshop with the too-high ceiling, characters with names like Carriage Rangaswamy and Rulemaster Chitnis, and the little hierarchies encompassing positions like “running staff” and “chargeman” evoke a time when one looming enterprise dictated every aspect of life. Is there a novel that took you back so effectively to an earlier time in your life? Let us know.
We’ve also just announced The Nod Book Club’s February pick—and it’s romance! Specifically, it’s Carley Fortune’s bestselling One Golden Summer; we’re declaring Charlie Florek book boyfriend of the year. Read it with us.
Pivoting, Heated Rivalry fans in India can now stream the series legally—the series premieres on Lionsgate India on February 20, so all your woes about the lack of subtitles may soon be over.
