Forty-year-old divorcee Nandini is something of an oddity in the Himalayan small town of Mukteshwar where she has come to settle with her absent-minded birdwatcher father. Fiercely independent, strong-willed—she’s a woman you can’t take for a ride, which is how she has turned a homegrown pickle-making business into a successful women’s co-operative. When she encounters the newcomer Vikas Joshi, who has recently acquired an apricot orchard, sparks being to fly as a series of mishaps bring them together. It doesn’t look like this shy, gentle widower and the feisty pickle producer are made for each other. But destiny deems otherwise, with a little help from the villagers—and a mysterious jar of apricot jam. Played out against the backdrop of the Kumaon Hills, across wooded mountains and apricot orchards, For the Love of Apricots is a quietly romantic, humorous story about a seemingly headstrong yet vulnerable heroine and a lonely man who realize, before it’s too late, that love deserves a second chance. Warm and light-hearted, yet sensitive and with an understanding of human nature at its core, this is a book to celebrate love in all its unpredictable ways.
Author
Madhulika Liddle is best known for her books featuring the 17th century Mughal detective Muzaffar Jang, although she is also a prolific writer of short fiction, travel writing, and writing related to classic cinema. The Muzaffar Jang Series: Madhulika’s best-known series of works are historical whodunnits featuring the 17th century Mughal detective, Muzaffar Jang. Till now, four books in the series have been published: The Englishman’s Cameo (2009) The Eighth Guest & Other Muzaffar Jang Mysteries (2011), Engraved in Stone (2012), and Crimson City (2015). In October 2021, Madhulika Liddle published The Garden of Heaven, the first novel of a four-novel series called the Delhi Quartet. This is a series of historical novels that will span 800 years of Delhi's history. The Garden of Heaven was long-listed for the Book of the Year (Fiction) Award of the annual Tata Literature Live! literature festival. In March 2023, Madhulika's The Pledge: Adventures to Sada was released. A fantasy adventure novel, this is the first part of a two-part series called The Mandala Purana, written in collaboration with film-maker Kannan Iyer. Short stories: Madhulika has written a range of short stories in different genres, including black humour, humour, crime and detection, and social awareness. Several of these have won awards (including the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association’s (CBA) Short Story Competition, for A Morning Swim, in 2003) or have been selected for anthologies. Her story, Poppies in the Snow, was longlisted for the 2015 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Prize. Short story collections: My Lawfully Wedded Husband & Other Stories. Black humour shorts, all of which have a twist in the tale. Woman to Woman: Stories. A collection of twelve women-centric stories. Madhulika is also known for her travel writing, which has been published in Rough Guides, National Geographic Traveller (India), Lounge (Mint), and other periodicals. In addition, she is a cinema buff and blogs (mostly about classic cinema) at www.madhulikaliddle.com. Awards and Recognition: CBA Short Story Competition – Honourable Mention (2002) for Love and the Papaya Man CBA Short Story Competition – Overall Winner (2003) for A Morning Swim Winner of Oxfordbookstore e-Author version 4.0 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Prize (2015) - Longlisted for Poppies in the Snow Book of the Year Award, Tata Literature Live! (2023) - Longlisted for The Garden of Heaven Starting 2022, Crimson City (Muzaffar Jang #4) is being taught as an elective to Delhi University students majoring in English
