'The Pretenders': Novel explores human experience, moral complexities of Covid-19 pandemic

New Delhi, Sep 28 (PTI) Author Avtar Singh's latest novel, "The Pretenders", vividly portrays life during the Covid-19 pandemic through emotionally resonant stories of love, loss, privilege, and displacement, reflecting the diverse experiences of people from different social and economic backgrounds around the world.

Published by Simon & Schuster, the book breaks down "personal, geographical, and class barriers" through the perspectives of a diverse cast of characters, each navigating the trauma of a global crisis.

"Being away from my family during COVID was terrifying for me, as it was for countless other people. I coped by trying to map the strangeness of that time.

"As I wrote, the other things I think about; class, migration, ordinary deceptions (and monumental ones), parents and their children: they all seeped into this thing I was working on. 'The Pretenders' is the result," Singh, whose last novel "Into the Forest" was set in German during the Covid pandemic, said in a statement.

In India, the novel follows Shamsher Singh as he witnesses a man wandering through Delhi, desperately seeking a dignified place to cremate a body. Meanwhile, in Beijing, Mei grapples with the pressure of her stepfather’s expectations and the strain of her long-distance relationship with Farid, Singh’s young nephew.

In Bangkok, Changez Khan encounters unexpected kindness, though he remains haunted by the weight of his past. And in Jakarta, Nina -- Mei's mother -- struggles against her husband's growing paranoia and the deepening sense of her own isolation.

"As death steps ever closer, lies are exposed and deceptions unraveled. But there is always hope," reads the description of the book.

Set across Asia at the peak of the brutal Delta wave, "The Pretenders" is a novel about finding love, freedom, and human connection in the bleakest of times.

According to the publisher, in Delhi's sprawling homes, in the cramped quarters of the staff that keep them running, in the loneliness of Bangkok’s streets, the book "takes one to the heart of what it means to be human when life itself is in the balance".

"Policemen and predators, the privileged and the under-privileged, masters and servants: everyone must look in the mirror when the time comes and know truth from artifice," they added.

The book, priced at Rs 599, is available for purchase across online and offline stores. PTI MG MG MG