What makes a fanatic? A fundamentalist? What makes communities that have lived together for years suddenly discover a hatred for each other? As if in answer, Shiv hears a distant rumble, then the parking lot fills with people. Even at a distance he can sense the tension in them, bodies like clenched fists, voices angry and shrill.

New Delhi, in the year 2000. Staff meetings, lesson modules, a half-hearted little affair with a colleague—this is the bland but comfortable life of Shiv Murthy, a history teacher in an open university.

But disruption and change are on their way—an outspoken young woman with a broken knee comes into his life and turns it upside-down; then Hindu zealots attacks his writings on Basava, the reformer-poet.

With fundamentalism landing on his own doorstep, Shiv discovers that the ideas he has inherited—about history, nations and patriots—are shrinking day by day. And the time of siege is not exclusively Indian; prejudice speaks different languages but has the same destructive message: ‘Only trust those of your kind’.  With love, lust, and a perverted nationalism at his heels, Shiv is forced to confront the demands of his times and choose a direction for the future. But first, he must come to terms with his own incomplete past, his fears, and his obsession with a woman who will give him the strength he seeks.

Sometimes funny, often moving, this stark, contemporary narrative unfolds the story of ordinary lives besieged, of men and women struggling to make sense of hatred, ignorance, love and loyalty—in individuals, ideas and the nation. Sharp and gripping, and permeated with a chilling sense of menace,In Times of Siege holds up an uncompromising mirror to India today.

On In Times of Siege

"Hariharan amplifies the themes of courage, disssent and responsibility in her protagonist's private life....The result is an engaging portrait of the mild-mannered progessor, who, even as the crises engulf him, marvels that his scholarly discipline "has become a live, fiery thing."
The New Yorker    more...

"Intelligent. . .[Hariharan’s] deceptively simple prose belies the artistry of her phrasings and she writes with an infectious concern for her characters. She excavates the rich layers of Indian history and, at the same time, exposes the intricacies of Murthy's internal conflict and personal life, revealing that the past and the present are always more inextricably linked than we presume."
San Francisco Chronicle    more...

"A heady mix of myth, modern mores, politics and lust. . . . Heartbreakingly funny, moving and as relevant as today’s headlines."
The Washington Post      more....

"Thoughtful and perceptive. . .succeeds in illuminating the siege-like mentality that exists when extremists set the agenda for intellectual culture"
Publishers Weekly   more....

"Witty, insightful novel...." 
The Seattle Times   more....

"A disturbing fictional portrait of the ideological polarization and sectarian conflict that in recent years have permeated every facet of life in India. Hariharan captures Shiv's besieged existence with just the right amount of angst, confusion, polemic and humour. Hariraran has written. . .[a] persuasive work that tells of the perils of sectarianism and silence in the face of oppression."  
Far Eastern Economic Review    more....

"Hariharan writes with anguish, pain and anger about what is happening to our country. I put In Times of Siege on top of my list of books that must be read."
Khushwant Singh (in his syndicated column, "With Malice Towards One and  All")         more....

"Githa Hariharan's new novel, In Times of Siege, is not only quite as contemporary as today's newspaper, but tomorrow's as well. That is what makes it literature -i.e. news that stays news - rather than mere journalism."
Alok Rai, Outlook             more....  

Viking, Penguin India, 2003 (www.penguinbooksindia.com), Pantheon, New York, 2003 (www.randomhouse.com), Vintage, New York, 2004