A decent story, with wonderful descriptions of everyday life.
This reads like a literary thriller. However, nothing is ever really resolved.
Overall, I feel like I was maybe the wrong audience for this book, as I spent a large amount of time reading it being confused (maybe some things were just lost in translation 🤷‍♀️). However, this was an overall interesting read.

I'm afraid this book confused me somewhat. I had expected a little more action from reading the synopsis. What I think I got was a long essay about the changing nature of the roles of men and women along with a little dodgy politics. I'm afraid I'm still unclear as to what the author was trying to say.

Perhaps I was the wrong audience but I was unsure by the end exactly what the book had been about. Or perhaps some of the nuance was lost in translation.

I found some of the book interesting, mainly the roles men and women play in more conservative countries but the politics and Venkat's attitude to both his wife and daughter quite irritating. Certainly his overactive imagination and flights of fancy regarding his daughter felt a little over-egged.

Again, I was perhaps not the right audience for this novel.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Faber & Faber for the advance review copy.

An unsettling and thought provoking read. This would be a good choice for a reading group, it isn't a long book - but there are so many possible avenues for discussion.

In 'Sakina's Kiss' author Vivek Shanbhag pokes at the thorny knot of class, caste, patriarchy, and masculinity within Indian society; at desi (male) middle class insidious complacency and the veneer of liberality; at insecurity and the grasping of control like tightly held sand slipping through a fist. His words (deftly translated from the Kannada by Srinath Perur) are concise and pointed and loaded with meaning, razor sharp darts striking the bullseye again and again. Shanbhag lassos his readers, slowly tightening the rope as he draws them in, an inescapable confrontation with mundane living and absurd realities and the consequential and the inconsequential that underly them, ending his narrative by showing you exactly what he has been doing all along, in his framing of the scene, the cinematic shot, the cycle closing (or re-opening). It is not about a linear plot or the solving of a mystery, the revealing of secrets and hidden truths, and yet Shanbhag says and shows exactly what is needed. Absolutely masterful, not a word wasted.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me early access to read this book ahead of publication. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it and would recommend it to anyone interested in a literary examination of intersectional issues with taunt writing.

A really interesting read, part political/social commentary, some thriller-y aspects, and all packed into 180 well formed pages.

I have not read Northern Indian literature before, and I found that reading this book was like peering through a window into another culture. After reading it, I will most definitely be educating myself more on the caste system and revolutionary activities in the region.

“Sakina’s Kiss” - Vivek Shanbhag (translate from Kannada by Srinath Perur)
"A woman can make a scene if a stranger touches her in a bus. But what can she do when it's her husband?"
Ventak and Viji are a fairly mundane middle class couple living a fairly mundane life, until a knock on their door one evening. Two young men are urgently looking for their daughter Rekha, but they refuse to say why. Over the course of four days, the family realises that divides have formed that they never considered or noticed before.
The story goes further back in time, all the way to the early days of Ventak and Viji’s marriage, and through various characters we start to see the divisions in modern India. There’s commentary on the patriarchy, feminism, workers’ rights, all the way to self-help mantras (constantly spouted by Ventak). Each character takes a very distinctive viewpoint, and there’s a lot of tension as they interact and slowly change each other’s views across time. There’s a lot of themes addressed in 200 pages, but it never felt like too much, although it’s arguable that some could have been explored in greater depth.
Some may want the book to be less mild (there’s never really any threat of true harm or danger), and the ending is going to frustrate some. However, if you were a fan of Shanbhag’s “Ghachar Ghochar”, then this is another book with similar successes.
My thanks to @netgalley and @faberbooks for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. This book is published on 8th May!

In the quiet hum of Southwestern India, Shanbhag captures a cacophony of caste, patriarchy, and prejudice that fractures lives in silence.

“The intensity of a life can be measured in stupid decisions.”

Deceptively mundane, Sakina’s Kiss offers an intimate exposure of the corrosive power of societal constructs that crush lives and dare resistance. Translated from Kannada by Srinath Perur, Vivek Shanbhag weaves a multitude of themes that diffract onto a canvas, portraying Indian society through the crooked lens of Venkataramana, best known as Venkat.

Told in the first person, the story follows Venkat—a meritocratic, fervent follower of guru Tiwari, father to Rekha, and husband to Viji—whose life is upended when two lower-class youths unexpectedly knock on his door, demanding to know the whereabouts of his 20-year-old daughter. Fortunately, Rekha is staying with her uncle Antanna in an off-the-grid village, where there's no internet or signal. This brief and disruptive encounter sets off tensions within the family, triggering a series of fractured, non-linear memories, reflections, and present-day reckonings that expose the ingrained caste mentality, prejudice, and the suffocating grip of patriarchy.

One of the earliest scenes shows Venkat reflecting on his early life, as his name is shortened: Venkataramana by his village friends, Venkat by his engineer peers, and Venky by his colleagues—an allusion to his easy acceptance and non-confrontational nature. Venkat believes himself progressive and inclusive, but his actions tell another story. Beautifully translated by Srinath Perur, Shanbhag distinctively narrates Venkat’s most intimate thoughts without judgment, leaving the reflective work to the reader. This assertion does not mean the book is overly political or philosophical (although it can be, if the reader questions the character’s actions).

With hints of a thriller, Venkat and Viji set off on a journey to find out from Rekha who those men were and what they wanted so urgently from her. The story continues through a deliberately fragmented structure, unfolding the family’s history as a commentary on the patriarchy crumbling under the pressure of revolution. Some readers may find the lack of linearity frustrating, but life never unfolds neatly. There are powerful moments between Rekha and Venkat, illustrating the loss of the patriarch’s unquestioned authority over the younger generation, making it clear that Sakina’s Kiss is as much about the decline of a certain model of manhood as it is about individual failure. Rekha’s rebellion unmasks Venkat’s papery liberalism. His narrowed view of gender roles, his selective outrages, and his patronising cynicism about activism are portrayed with unflinching accuracy.

The story of Venkat’s uncle Ramana, a political activist turned fugitive, is precisely woven into the main narrative. Shanbhag subtly observes that the collapse of ideals—though dramatic and visible—is no less destructive than the quiet aggressions of everyday life. Through Ramana, Shanbhag shows how moral compromise hides itself behind virtue. Although Shanbhag exposes these themes throughout the novella, the story ends abruptly—or as I read it, cycles once again into a new phase of repression and resistance.

Ultimately, Sakina’s Kiss is a powerful exploration on how easy it is to lose oneself — piece by piece — to patriarchy, conformity, and compromise. It examines the quiet tragedies of Indian middle-class life: the betrayals we justify, the selves we abandon, the ideals we quietly let go, or loudly forced. It is not a loud novel, but it lingers with quiet devastation. Shanbhag’s characters do not scream their pain; they live it, deny it, and carry it forward into the next generation.

Recommended for readers who appreciate character-driven fiction that explores family dynamics, societal expectations, and the strained patriarchal model.

Rating: 4.0/5
Recommended

Thank you, Vivek Shanbhag and Faber and Faber Ltd, for this digital galley via NetGalley in exchange for my honest and personal opinion.

This book ended with me having so many questions. I honestly have no idea what was going on and feel like there were plot holes and parts of the story that were emphasized but had no closure/answer for. I did enjoy reading about the perspective of relationships for the viewpoint of the father/husband and there were some really thought-provoking quotes that I enjoyed. I’m just thoroughly confused by the ending, the plot, and the structure all together.