Books@Stones event: The Wildflower of Assam by Gayatri Sarkar

Join us at Books@Stones on Thursday 18 September for a special in-conversation event with author Gayatri Sarkar to celebrate the launch of her debut novel, The Wildflower of Assam.

Through the eyes of the Wildflower…

Between the 1950s and early 1980s, Assam was a beautiful place surrounded by peaceful tea gardens and picturesque hills. Its tranquillity was however disturbed by clashes between locals and outsiders. Thirteen-year-old Shabana enters Assam with her family in search of a better life. It was not her decision to travel but she had to accept all that it offered. In her journey she witnesses greed, fraud, lust, betrayal, and motherhood.

During her journey she is intrigued by several questions, why do people cross borders illegally? Are those decisions practical or purely emotional? How are men empowered to make decisions that impact the entire family? How can people live with a masked identity? Why do people snatch other’s property? And why do people kill innocents?

This historical saga portrays the journey of women - from one country to another, from singlehood to married life, from abject poverty to comfort, and from tolerance to decisiveness. It reveals the true impact of societal tension and domestic violence on their lives.

Gayatri Sarkar, a computer engineer, is based in Brisbane, Australia. Born and raised in Pune, Maharashtra, India, she has contributed short stories to several acclaimed anthologies, including Perfect Vision (2020), Delete Log Off Shut Down Corruption (2018), and Soul’s Sojourn (2017).

In addition to her anthology work, she has maintained a couple of blogs and written for a number of journals and magazines, exploring themes of identity, social change, and personal resilience.

She is also an Oxford alumna, holding a Creative Writing diploma from Oxford University with merit (2023).