Originally an accountant, this is the first time that he has completed more than a chapter. Mukherjee has somewhat atypical origins for a writer. Both writers concur that characters can be unruly, and take on a life of their own. “They tricked me,” she exclaims of her characters. Alem agrees, comparing writing to exploring the streets of Mecca. The story is not the writers’, but something already existing. Mukherjee cites Stephen King’s assertion that writing is like uncovering a fossil. Set at the beginning of the British colonial period, A Rising Man explores the clash between cultures that was also the driving force behind the Bengali Renaissance.ĭespite being at different points in their careers, Alem and Mukherjee share similar writing experiences at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Mukherjee’s debut novel examines a similarly transitional period in Calcutta. Seasoned writer Alem explores Mecca’s ongoing modernisation in The Dove’s Necklace, what she calls an “elegy” to her home city’s rich past whilst also looking forward. Both Raja Alem and Abir Mukherjee’s new crime novels begin with a dead body, but go on to explore two very different cities.
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