Gora

byRabindranath Tagore, Devapriya Roy (Translator)

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WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE

Growing up in 1870s Calcutta, two childhood friends – the fiery, resolute Gora and the thoughtful, questioning Binoy – must navigate a society divided by faith, caste and political turmoil.

Gora, raised in an orthodox Hindu household, is fiercely loyal to tradition, while Binoy becomes increasingly drawn into a progressive circle whose warm and independent women challenge everything he thought he knew. As first love, family expectations and political loyalties collide, the friends find themselves pulled down opposing paths, and long-buried secrets force both young men to confront the truth of who they are and where they belong.

When Rabindranath Tagore completed Gora in 1910, he created not only a landmark of Indian literature but an intimate coming-of-age story set against the tremors of a nation in transformation. Devapriya Roy's major new translation revitalises Tagore into modern English, bringing to life Gora and Binoy’s unforgettable journey through identity, belief and belonging, and showing why this national epic still speaks so powerfully to readers today.

About Rabindranath Tagore

Born in 1861, Rabindranath Tagore was a key figure of the Bengal Renaissance. He started writing at an early age and by the turn of the century had become a household name in Bengal as a poet, a songwriter, a playwright, an essayist, a short story writer and a novelist. In 1913 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and his verse collection Gitanjali came to be known internationally. At about the same time he founded Visva-Bharati, a university located in Santiniketan, near Kolkata. Called the 'Great Sentinel' of modern India by Mahatma Gandhi, Tagore steered clear of active politics but is famous for returning his knighthood as a gesture of protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919. Tagore was a pioneering literary figure, renowned for his ceaseless innovations in poetry, prose, drama, music and painting, which he took up late in life. His works include novels; plays; essays on religious, social and literary topics; some sixty collections of verse; over a hundred short stories; and more than 2500 songs, including the national anthems of India and Bangladesh. Rabindranath Tagore died in 1941. His eminence as India's greatest modern poet remains unchallenged to this day.

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