Meera Nair

Meera Nair writes historical fiction that recovers forgotten narratives from India's complex past. Her novel "The Spice Merchant's Daughter" uncovered the little-known story of Malayali women in early 20th-century East Africa. Born in Kochi to a family of spice traders, Nair spent her childhood surrounded by stories of voyages, commerce, and cross-cultural encounters. She studied history at Presidency College and completed her PhD at Cambridge on Indian Ocean trade networks. Her most recent novel, "The Partition of Hearts," follows a Hindu-Muslim love story across the 1947 divide. She has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize and translated into twenty-three languages.