Ananda Devi

WINNER OF THE 2024 NEUSTADT INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE

Translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman

First English edition published 13 January 2020

French-American Foundation Translation Prize finalist 2020

She wanted to immerse herself utterly in the presence of this child’s strong, vibrant body. She drank in his vigor, inhaled the fiery energy he exuded. No matter why he was there. He had granted her reprieve.

A chance encounter on Portobello Road incites an unsettling, magnetic attraction between Mary, an elderly spinster, and Cub, a boy from Brixton, driving her crumbling world into heightened delusion. The two struggle to keep their footing as white supremacy, desperation and class conflict collide on the streets of the increasingly polarised metropolis. Award-winning Mauritian author and poet Ananda Devi paints an unforgettable portrait of London at its most bewitching, and most dangerous. At once realistic and fantastical, The Living Days encapsulates Devi’s daring, unflinching talent, and offers a masterful dissection of the queasy nature of desire muddled with power.

Read excerptson Guernica and in TANK, or watch a reading by Jennifer Obidike.
See reviews in the Guardian, the Irish Times and more.

‘Beautifully written, visceral and ecstatic. Unafraid, as Angels might be, to bear witness to the force of entropy pulling us all towards death.’ — Preti Taneja, author of We That Are Young

‘Jeffrey Zuckerman’s translation is perfect in its power and precision, a magnificent gem.’ — Jennifer Croft, translator of Man Booker International winner Flights

‘I am loving this, Ananda Devi’s latest in English translation. Sentences and thoughts that go where you don’t expect them to, but also exactly where feels right once you’ve finished them. The translation is so... bright on the page. Devi’s London bright in the mind’s eye. ’ — Sophie Hughes, translator of The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán shortlisted for the Booker International 2019

‘Ananda Devi is not afraid to stare into the abyss. I hugely admire the brutality, the poetry and the imaginative range of her writing. This is a demanding and important book by a true artist and a great writer. I am so grateful to have been introduced to her work through the skill of the translator, Jeffrey Zuckerman, and the wisdom of Les Fugitives.’ — Lara Pawson, author of This Is the Place to Be

By the same author: Eve Out of Her Ruins(2016, out of print) and Eve Out of Her Ruins (YA edition - the integral original text plus a preface by the author) (2021)

190 pages
paperback, 203 x 130 mm
isbn 978-1-9993318-4-9