About the Book
Why would a legendary freedom fighter ask his best friend to carry a gun on a journey that could be their last?
Lush and lyrical, The Girl in Scarlet Hijab by Suresh U. Kumar is a powerful debut novel that blends historical fiction, political intrigue, and emotionally charged storytelling, set against the turbulent backdrop of pre- and post-Independence India. This sweeping saga explores the price of loyalty to a cause greater than self, the fire of youth-led movements and their impact on the private lives of its leaders, the resilience of love in the face of tyranny, and opens a door into an unseen world that is at once unnerving and inspiring.
Shortlisted for the 2025 Delhi Literature Festival Jury Award for Fiction and hailed as a "brilliant novel that interrogates accepted history and offers an alternative view that is at once disturbing and illuminating" by Kendra Sahitya Akademi Awardee K. Jayakumar, "a tour de force" by Kerala film and TV star Mallika Sukumaran, and as "goose pimple worthy drama" by author Neetha Raman, this breakout bestseller soared to the top of multiple Amazon India charts in January 2025-including Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction, Indian Writing, Action & Adventure, and Political Thrillers.
1981, Kochi, India:
As Kerala erupts in student protests, the Home Minister's convoy is halted by human barricades outside a hospital. Inside, an ageing revolutionary lies at death's door, the victim of a ruthless assassination attempt engineered by a corrupt political cabal. Tensions explode on the streets, triggering a brutal police crackdown. At the center of this upheaval are three friends-two idealistic young men and a mysterious girl in a scarlet hijab whose quiet courage, strategic brilliance, and unwavering devotion to justice make her an icon of the resistance. As the state spirals into chaos and the ruling Left Front government teeters on collapse, dangerous secrets begin to emerge, threatening to upend the lives of everyone involved and shatter the bonds that hold the revolution together.
The Girl in Scarlet Hijab is a fascinating multi-generational family saga, an emotional evocation of a bygone India, and a humbling meditation on the hardships endured by past generations for the sake of building the free and strong nation that India is today.
The novel is perfect for readers who love books about Indian freedom struggle, 20th century historical fiction, book club fiction, student-led revolutions, Indian literature, South Asian political drama, women's adventure fiction, women-led resistance stories, books by Indian American authors, Kerala stories, new releases in fiction, alternate history, coming-of-age stories, courage under fire, forbidden love, and literary thrillers with emotional depth.
If you enjoyed books like The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, Independence by Chitra Divakaruni, The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi, Revolution 2020 by Chetan Bhagat, All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, or Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan, you'll find this novel unforgettable.
About the Author :
Suresh U. Kumar is a professor, serial entrepreneur, start-up mentor, non-profit leader, and author with a zeal for taking chances, learning, and exploring new frontiers. Born in Kochi, India, he grew up listening to stories of courage, sacrifice and love related to the Indian independence struggle and World War 2 from his grandparents and his father, who was a young naval sailor with the British Indian Navy in North Africa in 1944. Suresh began his journey as a student political leader before embarking on a global career in the United States. Suresh co-founded his first venture in 1999, igniting his passion for leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Currently, he serves as a professor and Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, founder of AI startup, The New Frontier Firm and as the President/Board Member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE)-New Jersey Chapter. An avid reader of all kinds of books, Suresh resides in New Jersey with his family.The Girl in Scarlet Hijab, Suresh's debut novel, was first traditionally published by Rupa Publications (2024). Shortlisted for the 2025 Delhi Literature Festival Jury Award for Fiction and hailed as a "brilliant novel that interrogates accepted history and offers an alternative view that is at once disturbing and illuminating" by Kendra Sahitya Akademi Awardee K. Jayakumar, "a tour de force" by Kerala film and TV star Mallika Sukumaran, and as "goose pimple worthy drama" by author Neetha Raman, the book soared to the top of multiple Amazon India charts in January 2025-including Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction, Indian Writing, Action & Adventure. The Malayalam version of the book will be released in November 2025.
Review :
"Girl in Scarlet Hijab is a remarkable achievement-ambitious in scope, meticulous in detail, and profoundly moving in its emotional resonance. It is at once a political treatise, a historical excavation, and a deeply human story about love, loss, and the search for meaning in a fractured world. Suresh U. Kumar offers more than a tale of revolution-he presents a meditation on what it means to remain true to one's ideals in an age of disillusionment. He gives us characters who love fiercely, resist quietly, and remember courageously" -- New Asian Writing
"What Suresh Kumar has achieved in this brilliant novel is to lay bare a society with its inner conflicts, fault lines and dynamics. It interrogates accepted history, blurs the line between fact and fiction, and offers an alternative view that is at once disturbing and illuminating. A must read!" - K Jayakumar, 2024 Kendra Sahitya Akademi awardee, poet, lyricist and former chief secretary of Kerala
"History, fiction, and intrigue make a potent cocktail in Suresh U. Kumar's debut novel, Girl in Scarlet Hijab. Kumar's prose is commanding, particularly the scenes of the face-offs with police are goose-pimple-worthy drama." - Neetha Raman, Author of Chrysalis
"Riveting! Suresh Kumar takes readers on a breathtaking, emotional roller coaster. The story is of cinematic quality, masterfully woven around real events. A tour de force!" - Mallika Sukumaran, Malayalam Film and TV Actress
