Book Review: A Death In The Forest by Paromita Goswami
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Harshita Nanda reviews A Death in the Forest by Paromita Goswami (Red River Press, 2025), observing how it is an important read.
A Death in the Forest is an anthology of eleven stories, set in the forest tracts around Chandrapur, Maharashtra. These tales are far from the aesthetics of the Instagram reels we are accustomed to seeing. Rooted in the soil, they bring forth the grassroots issues that are not mentioned in the smallest newspaper columns. Starting with a story about a death and ending with a story about a birth, the stories in the book are about the invisible struggle of living a life with dignity. The stories deal with topics like forced displacement, water rights, the long wait for the government wheels to be in motion, etc. The sketches of Pramod Kumar Anerao illustrate and complement the stories written by the author.
Red River Stories, edited by Sucharita Dutta-Asane, is known for shining the spotlight on stories that are often overlooked by the mainstream. A Death in the Forest is another example of a book that shines the spotlight on the almost forgotten Adivasi communities of Central India. Out of the eleven tales, the three that stood out for me were A Death in the Forest, Motiram Kodapa’s Day in the Court, and The Saheb’s Verandah.
