Books
Experimenting indulgences of fiction in historical, allegoric, socio psychological and magical realism.
Latest Publication
Published 2022
The story of Susan is about how she becomes a mother to her newborn brother at a tender age of twelve, and how life takes her on the most unexpected twists and turns. Susan from Goa, India, ends up marrying Suiyi, a Singaporean Chinese who she’s known since childhood. Intelligent brother Joseph refuses to study for an important reason, gets into bad habits and becomes a hardened cynic who criticizes everything his life has and has not.
During Susan’s struggle to gain a foothold in an unfamiliar country, she discovers how she and her husband approach life, especially as those approaches change over time. They have relationship issues but they sail through them. In the novella examines different levels of human psychology, especially that of the three main characters.
The postmodern socio psychological novella ‘When will you die?’ can tell you more.
“When Will You Die” by Jayanthi Sankar is an enthralling and deeply moving work of fiction that explores the intricate and often fragile nature of sibling relationships. The book follows Susan and Joe, who, despite having different fathers, share an unbreakable bond as siblings. – Gunjan Arora
“When will you die” is a book that revolves around Suiyi, Susan, and Joe emotionally. The storyline includes these three characters which indeed forces us to think deeply about our lives. Some things will be relatable to us. The themes of the novella are family, love, friendship, death, sacrifice, and emotional ups and downs. – Tanu Studies
The plot brings out emotions and what I observed was that no matter the ethnicity or the place one lives, a lot of emotions, a lot of situations that a person goes through are so similar, yet so different because of their backgrounds. Sankar has made her characters very appealing and gray and that just won me over. The part that appealed to me the most was the ironic parallels drawn between Suiyi and his parents character and similarly between Susan and her parents’ characters. This whole novella was just so so accurate with its representation. Will recommend it to those who are looking for a nice read which is psychologically enriched. – SKS
Third Publication
Tabula Rasa
Published 2021
This novel explores the story of Singapore, taking the readers on a 200 years’ journey.
Through the story of Li Wei and Muthu, the main characters, Tabula Rasa captures the island of Singapore, formed by the traders, colonizers and the indigenous natives. Migrants shaped this tiny island and they continue to contribute to this country. The shuffled narration of past and present naturally leaves a memorable experience for readers.
Tabula Rasa shatters some of the misconceptions that abound worldwide and prejudices knowingly and unknowingly about the inhabitants, their origins, and Singapore’s histories. A must-read to know what this little island has been and is about. – – Usha Nagasamy, Further Education College Lecturer, London
The commendable research behind the novel stands out, unveiling the contributions of thousands of labourers in the building of the wonderland of Singapore. While it seamlessly weaves the bonding, cultural strengths, and taboos, it also emerges as a rare work of art in male psychology. The world of men, their loneliness, and suffocations caused by their inability to vent out their hurts and insults have been depicted intricately by a female author. – Ethan Wynn, Houston, USA
Some books rejoice us, some leave us in tears, there are a few more give pangs of nostalgia, but a very few make us doubt our perceptions and conscience , and this fiction, like every other book of the author, did that to me. I was awestruck, unlearning, learning, and contemplating within myself. Is human mind just full of complexities or contrasts? Is there anything better in life than just a clean slate, Tabula Rasa? –Sredhanea Ramkrishnan, Author and an Entrepreneur, India
The spectacular smooth, silky thread of migration holds the exquisite pearls of histories, unique perspectives, lively characters, exciting incidents, connections, and incredible imaginations of Singapore. The phenomenal Tabula Rasa will stay with me for long. – Liu Fang, Further Education teacher, Hong Kong
Awards
- New York City Big Book (NYCBBA) Award 2022 – Distinguished Favourite 2022
- San Francisco Book fest Award 2022 – Special Mention
- Top 50 most influential Authors 2021
Second Publication
Misplaced Heads
Published 2020
A feminine and feministic historical novel that takes the readers on a time machine.
Through this nonlinear novel, the author depicts Poorna the protagonist and her search for her roots. In this well researched fiction, the temple dancers of India and their culture and evolution has been aesthetically picturised. The colonial centuries in the sub continent influenced big time the decline of the system.
The shift in the time frames, from past to present are seamlessly flowing with respective characters. The novelist has done dense research in every detail of the repertoire, the training of the devadasis, and their style. I was awestruck. It was mind-blowing, to think about how she could even decipher various adavus and various mudras used by us, dancers. – Kalaimamani Dr. Radhika Shurajit, Dancer, Teacher, Choreographer, Chennai
This fiction is a standing testament that though times have changed immensely, the bare human emotion towards art and feelings towards fellow human beings remain the same and are truly eternal. A devadasi of the yesteryear would not fret towards a polygamous institution as much as a conditioned woman today would. The ironies are brought out gracefully while normalizing many human emotions, probably considered a taboo by the general public. – Prathik Sudha Murali, Historian, Teacher, Public speaker, Chennai
The expansive postmodernist novel peopled with over a dozen characters, spanning generations, different ages, and varying milieus successfully trashes several misconceptions regarding the devadasi culture in India. It attempts to correct the distorted picture of the system and chronicles the downfall of devadasis and their rich culture and heritage with the advent of colonial rule. Without romanticizing them, the author depicts them simply as human beings with their strengths and flaws. – Dr. Revathy Sivasubramaniam, Assistant Professor, Chellammal Women’s College, Chennai
Awards
- Coimbatore Literature Award 2022
- Eyelands Final List - Historical Novel category
First Publication
Dangling Gandhi and other short stories
Published 2019
This book has twelve unique short stories that talk about Asia, Southeast Asia and Singapore.
Unsaid words speak more than the spoken ones. Readers go to Munnar, Shillong, Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia and more, The abstractness in these short stories, traveling to the past colonial Singapore and India to the contemporary lives of characters of Asians, leave immense scope for the readers’ participation.
Stories like ‘Punkah Wallah,’ a delightful fiction that’s worth re-visiting, brought to life the different classes of our society, origins, and cultures, and how they functioned during the early days of the last century, are aptly published when we celebrate Singapore’s Bicentennial. ‘Did Churchill know?’ left me pleasantly surprised, shocked, and bemused. – Angela Leong, Director of a Research firm, Singapore
Thoroughly enjoyed the short stories, finding them gripping and touching, with unexpected little twists. On my second reading, with real concentration, I found them even more interesting. They made me think, too, and that is always a good thing! – Valerie Dümpelmann, EFL instructor, Germany
…is not only a story of how different generations relate to literature. A brilliant short story ‘emblematically highlights many of the problems that characterize Tamil literature as a set of social practices in Singapore today. – Sascha Ebeling, Associate Professor, the University of Chicago, USA
Awards
- International Book Award American Bookfest
- Literary Titan Award - 2020
- Indian Awaz - Author award - 2020
- NE8x Inspiring Author featured winner - 2021
OTHER PUBLICATIONS:
Dancing Gold Flecks – Adapting to Changes
An Anthology of Short Stories
Iron Fist In a Velvet Glove is a global Anthology of 32 Short Stories of 27 contributors from UK, USA, Singapore, India, Philippines and Myanmar.
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Characters I create give me far better, profound insights to human psychology than my fellow humans, who inspire me to create my credible characters better every time.
