The Skinning Tree – Shrikumar Sen

Description

The Skinning Tree by Srikumar Sen is a haunting coming-of-age novel set against the backdrop of the Japanese advance on India during the Second World War. Winner of the 2012 South Asia Prize, this unsettling story follows nine-year-old Sabby, a boy growing up in Calcutta within a family where colonial British customs collide with rising Indian nationalism. When Sabby is sent to a remote boarding school in northern India, he quickly discovers a world marked by cruelty, repression, and casual violence.

Within the oppressive walls of the school, the boys endure relentless brutality from teachers and, in turn, mimic their tormentors’ sadistic tendencies. From thoughtless acts of animal cruelty to sinister plots among the students, the novel reveals a chilling descent into collective violence. As conspiracies take hold, Sabby is drawn into a disturbing exploration of authority, conformity, and the ease with which innocence can be corrupted.

Dark, thought-provoking, and deeply atmospheric, The Skinning Tree is ideal for readers drawn to literary fiction that examines the complexities of childhood, power, and the darker impulses of human nature.