A genre bending tale fraught with suspense, The Witch in the Peepul Tree will haunt you long after you have turned the last page…

sohela.singh@harpercollins.co.in | 6 June 2023

HarperCollins India is delighted to announce the upcoming release of

THE WITCH IN THE PEEPUL TREE 

by Arefa Tehsin

Paperback | 344 pp | Rs 399

Available wherever books are sold | Releasing 16 June 2023

About the Book

It is Makar Sankranti,1950, when sixteen-year-old Sanaz’s body is discovered in her father Dada Bhai’s house in Bohrawadi, Udaipur.

A few of those in and around the house that day are the cruel zamindar Rao sahib of Singhgarh, the devout degenerate Hariharan, the young Bhil Nathu, visiting from a remote tribal village to inform Dada Bhai of a leopard kill, the attractive night soil worker Parijat, and the acerbic widow Sugra, who rolls a rosary and wishes for the jeevti dakkan-the living witch in the peepul tree-to be her secret ally.

As the shadows grow long, it becomes clear that something sinister walks the halls of this grand old house. What unfolds is a genre-bending tale of suspense, intrigue and something so much darker.

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Talking about the book, Arefa Tehsin says ‘My first Covid lockdown was spread over one day of Makar Sankranti, 1950. I was caught in a time bubble, suffered a case of skipping personalities and thoroughly enjoyed penning my first novel for adults in times of isolation.’

Prerna Gill, Commissioning Editor at HarperCollins adds ‘You will think of this book long after you have devoured it, and you will remember the story as though it were a film you just watched: a sepia-toned Gothic tale of murder and intrigue, all set within a nation struggling to rebuild itself. A rare treat you cannot miss.’

About the Author

Arefa Tehsin is the author of several fiction and non-fiction books, both for children and adults, and contributes columns and features (to various national dailies and magazines like The Indian Express, The Hindu, Deccan Herald, Outlook, The Wire and The Times of India. Her books have been taken up as textbooks and supplementary readers in schools in India and Sri Lanka.

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For review copies, interviews, excerpts or more information, please write to: sohela.singh@harpercollins.co.in