When a struggling family in Bangalore suddenly strikes it rich thanks to a spice business founded by a shrewd uncle, their fortunes transform overnight. But with wealth comes a quiet unraveling. They leave behind their cramped, insect-ridden home for a spacious house across townbut what seemed like progress soon reveals fractures beneath the surface. Roles shift. Power breeds silence. And loyalties once taken for granted begin to waver. In this tightly wound domestic world, a single phraseghachar ghochar, invented in childhood and now disturbingly aptcomes to define the knotted, inescapable mess they find themselves in.

Taut, slyly humorous, and unnervingly intimate, Ghachar Ghochar is a masterfully compact novel that explores how money changes more than just circumstancesit reshapes identities, relationships, and the very language we use to make sense of our lives.

Named a Best Book of the Year by the Guardian, Globe and Mail, and Publishers Weekly.
Shortlisted for the ALTA National Translation Award in Prose.
One of vulture’s 100 best books of the 21st century.