Follow the illicit liaisons, political ambitions, and mortal betrayals of one prominent Delhi family in a sweeping novel from National Book Award finalist Karan Mahajan.

The Complex: The sons and daughters of SP Chopra, one of India’s political architects, live together in a sprawling Delhi complex, vying for influence in a family shaped by the great man’s legacy. By the late 1970s, the still-young nation is on the brink of transformation, and the Chopras are scrambling to define their own futures. Sachin Chopra leaves for America, followed by his bride, Gita, eager to forge a life beyond the pressures of the family compound. Yet Delhi keeps pulling them back—even as Sachin’s predatory uncle, Laxman, hounds Gita. A man of restless ambition, Laxman ascends through the ranks of a rising Hindu nationalist movement, caught between his political aspirations and his personal transgressions. As India erupts in violence and long-buried secrets come to light, the embattled Chopras must reckon with the cost of power, the weight of tradition, and the shifting nature of love and allegiance.

Karan Mahajan worked on The Complex during his 2018-2019 Fellowship at the Library’s Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers. He will discuss his book with writer Keith Gessen.

To join this event in-person | Please be sure to register for an In-Person Ticket. Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form shortly before the program.

To join the livestream | A livestream of this event will be available on the NYPL event page. To receive an email reminder shortly in advance of the event, please be sure to register! If you encounter any issues, please join us on NYPL’s YouTube channel.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Karan Mahajan is the author of The Association of Small Bombs, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, won the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award, and was named one of the Ten Best Books of the Year by the New York Times Book Review. His debut novel, Family Planning, was a finalist for the Dylan Thomas Prize. He has been selected as one of Granta’s Best Young American Novelists, and his writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Vanity Fair, the New York Review of Books, and other publications. He is an associate professor of Literary Arts at Brown University.

Keith Gessen is the author of A Terrible Country, which he worked on during his Cullman Center Fellowship in 2014-2015. He teaches at the Columbia Journalism School and is a contributing writer at the New Yorker.