''Jasmine Days'' is a 2014

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

novel by Benyamin and translated into English by

Shahnaz Habib Shahnaz Habib is an Indian essayist, fiction writer, travel writer, and translator based in the United States of America. She teaches writing at Bay Path University and The New School, and works as a consultant for the United Nations. In 2018, sh ...

. It tells the story of Sameera Parvin, a young

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

woman who works as a radio jockey in an unnamed Middle Eastern country which is on the verge of revolution. First published in 2014 as ''Mullappoo Niramulla Pakalukal'', the novel won the inaugural

JCB Prize JCB Prize for Literature is an Indian literary award established in 2018. It is awarded annually with prize to a distinguished work of fiction by an Indian writer working in English or translated fiction by an Indian writer. The winners will be an ...

. It was published by

Juggernaut Books Juggernaut Books is a publisher headquartered in New Delhi, India. Starting with digital books distributed via its website and mobile apps, it turned to publishing physical books later. History Juggernaut was founded by Durga Raghunath and ...

Development

Writer Benyamin has been living in

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

for 20 years and his novel ''

Goat Days ''Aadujeevitham'' (English: ''The Goat Life'') is a 2008 Malayalam-language novel by Indian author Benyamin. Its transliterated English version is also known as ''Goat Days''. It is about an abused Malayali migrant worker employed in Saudi Ar ...

'' (2008) tells the story of an abused Indian migrant worker in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. He said that the real-life incidents of the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

served as the inspiration for ''Jasmine Days''. He also developed the main characters based on the personalities of his own friends and acquaintances.

Reception

Trisha Gupta of

Scroll.in Scroll.in, simply referred to as Scroll, is an Indian digital news publication. Founded in 2014, it is owned by SCSN Pvt Ltd. History Background Samir Patil, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumnus and McKinsey & Company associate wa ...

felt that the novel has "more locales, many more characters and a much more complex political landscape" than Benyamin's previous work. She wrote: "But what Benyamin pulls off again is Sameera’s voice: the almost spoken-word simplicity with which this landscape is rendered makes it hard not to listen." C.P Surendran of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' called it "a serious effort to come to terms with the world around us." But, he felt that the novel is "not exceptionally inspirational either in terms of writing or flow of the narrative." Faizal Khan of '' The Financial Express'' wrote: "Benyamin’s craft of conversation-driven storytelling succeeds in revealing the tensions in a society starting to unravel. Nearly every character has a story from their tradition to add to the local narrative." Supriya Nair of ''

Mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...

'' called, "The novel is told in first person, but it isn’t really concerned with interiority: it’s the great knock-about events of the story, its gasping pace of riots, deaths, family feuds and mourning, that imbalances our senses." Nandini Nair felt that the "power of ''Jasmine Days'' is that it tells a compelling story, but doesn't take sides."

References

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External links

''Jasmine Days''
at

2014 Indian novels Malayalam novels Novels set in the Middle East Juggernaut Books books