Descend into the deepest, murkiest torture chambers of the soul, where rapacious dreams dwell and nightmares are forged. Come, explore the mind's private darkness.

NEW DELHI, Feb. 21, 2024 -- HarperCollins is delighted to announce the publication of 'Stories that hold a mirror looking directly into the subconscious' INSTRUMENTS of TORTURE by Aparna Sanyal. 

Stories that hold a mirror looking directly into the subconscious

INSTRUMENTS of TORTURE

by Aparna Sanyal

Descend into the deepest, murkiest torture chambers of the soul, where rapacious dreams dwell and nightmares are forged. Come, explore the mind's private darkness.

"Aparna Sanyal takes you on a hypnotic journey." – Sonali Bendre 

"Aparna's prose carries tenderness in its brutality." – Namita Gokhale

Published by HarperCollins

Paperback | Fiction | 200 pp | INR 399

Releasing Today

About the Book

These stories are each named after a medieval torture device, and the true meaning—and impact—of every title bubbles to the surface as the connection between the instruments and their psychological counterparts are revealed. Among these pages, an anguished child is drugged with hormones to 'cure' his dwarfism in 'The Rack'; a forbidden love affair unfolds dangerously in 'The Judas Cradle'; a man is reunited with his first love in the strangest of places in 'The Pillory'.

Torn asunder and existing at the edges of our peripheral vision, the people in these tales hold up to the reader the greatest instrument of torture yet a mirror that looks directly into the subconscious.

Author Aparna Sanyal says, "The idea for Instruments of Torture incepted itself into my head some summers ago, while visiting a physical exhibition of medieval torture devices.  It stayed entrenched until I got the eight stories firmly on paper. The more I read about the devices' cruel and unusual histories, the clearer the stories became in my mind's eye. Often, I get asked how long it took to write this book; let's just say it has lived in my head for a lot longer than it has on paper."

Prerna Gill, commissioning editor, HarperCollins India says, "Serrated yet mesmerizing, this book will draw your imagination towards the wonders and horrors of the human psyche. A startling demonstration of the power of the written word."

Praise for Instruments of Torture

"Aparna Sanyal takes you on a hypnotic journey to hell and back as she explores the dark side of the human psyche…this haunting tale reaffirms her mastery over twisted tales­­­­­­­." – Sonali Bendre

"Aparna Sanyal's dark, brooding and unblinking prose carries tenderness in its brutality."– Namita Gokhale

About the Author

Aparna Sanyal holds an MA from Kings College, London. Recipient of the 14th Beullah Rose Poetry Prize by Smartish Pace, she was shortlisted for the 2018 Third Coast Fiction Prize.

This book is her first foray into fiction. Her debut book, Circus Folk & Village Freaks, released in October 2018 and was number one on the Amazon India Poetry Bestseller list. It is the first featured poetry recommendation on 'Sonali's Book Club' and has stellar reviews in The Hindu, The Asian Age, The Indian Express, Midweek, et al. Aparna's publication credits include The Yearbook of Indian Poetry in English 20-21, The Hong Kong Proverse Poetry Prize Anthology 2020, The Penn Review, Smartish Pace, Dunes Review, SOFTBLOW, Vayavya, Typehouse Literary Magazine, et al.

About HarperCollins India

HarperCollins is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, having begun publishing in India in 1992. HarperCollins India publishes some of the finest writers from the Indian Subcontinent and around the world, publishing approximately 200 new books every year, with a print and digital catalogue of more than 2,000 titles across 10 imprints. Its authors have won almost every major literary award including the Man Booker Prize, JCB Prize, DSC Prize, New India Foundation Award, Atta Galatta Prize, Shakti Bhatt Prize, Gourmand Cookbook Award, Publishing Next Award, Tata Literature Live! Award, Gaja Capital Business Book Prize, BICW Award, Sushila Devi Award, Sahitya Akademi Award and Crossword Book Award. HarperCollins India also represents some of the finest publishers in the world including Harvard University Press, Gallup Press, Oneworld, Bonnier Zaffre, Usborne, Dover and Lonely Planet. HarperCollins India has won the Publisher of the Year Award four times at Tata Literature Live! in 2022, 2021, 2018 and 2016, and at Publishing Next in 2021 and 2015. HarperCollins India is a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers.

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