Bijoya Sawian

A thick mist envelops an isolated house and a cottage atop a hill. Raseel, looks out from the window of her house and watches as the mist covers first the plants, then the trees and finally the cottage. Suddenly it parts, and three men come into view, furtive, quick. Then they’re gone. Minues later, Raseel hears the sound of shots. And then there is silence. The reader is pulled into Bijoya Sawian’s tense and dramatic story of the strange death of a dhkar, an outsider, in the beautiful hill town of Shillong in northeastern India. Why was he killed? Who are the killers? Are they known to the housekeeper and driver? As she begins to unravel this mystery, Raseel finds herself caught in a tale of intrigue and violence that mirrors the world of insurgency around her. In her lyrical, haunting prose, Bijoya Sawian paints a dark, threatening picture and shows how violence has tainted the very fabric of everyday life in a place that was once peaceful, untroubled and calm. “Shillong comes across as the hero of the story—the paradise that it once was and no longer. The author successfully captures the mood, the weather, the people, and the place... [Shadow Men] is unlike any other book I have read in a long time and you will love it too.” —Sonia Pressman Fuentes “In crisp, everyday conversations, the festering wounds of a splintered hill state are laid bare—the resentment brewing between the Khasis and the Garos, the downside of the traditional matrilineal system, the disconnect with mainstream India, crippling unemployment, drug and alcohol addiction, corrupt politicians, you get it all.” —Assam Tribune