A Season in Delhi
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A Season in Delhi is the first book in Rebel Satori’s new Bijou Book collection—a numbered series of shorter works, novellas, and novelettes. Each edition is a petite literary gem that fits in your pocket.
Set against the dazzling backdrop of modern Delhi, a gay couple’s idyllic Indian journey takes a dark turn when a secret infidelity is revealed.
Newly-married New Yorkers Brant and Lloyd are enjoying the great beauty and frenetic atmosphere of Delhi until Brant’s recent infidelity is revealed to his husband. Left alone in what was supposed to be their honeymoon bungalow, Brant discovers a diary buried in the garden that was written by a diplomat’s wife, Carol, who had a torrid, scandalous affair in Delhi in 1950. Brant connects with the 90-year-old Carol first on the page—and eventually, in person—discovering a bond that transcends time and culture.
Inspired by the works of Paul Bowles (The Sheltering Sky) and Lawrence Osborne (The Forgiven), A Season in Delhi is both modern and timeless, driven by a fascination with the great disparity of privilege and wealth; the flawed beauty of the human spirit; and the complexity and humility we face when we engage first in reckless deception, then forgiveness, and—ultimately—redemption.
*The book’s November 12 release coincides with India’s celebration of Diwali.
Reviews & Praise:
“An Excellent novella! With clear, spare prose, Hess weaves a morally complex tale of infidelity, temptation, and loss. The honesty is both bitter and brutal, yet Hess finds humanity and depth in the struggles of his wayward, lonely characters. Here trust parries with desire and commitment clashes with fulfillment. Mercifully, compassion mitigates the heartbreak."
-- Brian Alessandro, author of Performer Non Grata and co-author of Edmund White's A Boy's Own Story: The Graphic Novel
“With clean prose and the casual air of an E.M. Forster novel, Scott Alexander Hess weaves two tales of marital betrayal in A Season In Delhi. But the consequences for these two couples are anything but casual. They are taken to the very edge. With echoes of Paul Bowles’ The Sheltering Sky, Hess’s novel places two Western expatriate couples—a contemporary gay male couple and a straight couple in 1950—in Delhi, India. Hess interweaves these dangerous tales at a breakneck pace that engages the reader immediately. The domestic dramas quickly reveal themselves to be more sinister page-turning mysteries with the kind of grit and moral dilemmas reminiscent of a Graham Greene novel. How do we forgive? How far will we go to feel desired? In this taut novella Hess leaves us both feeling the fragility of our human connections and the need to cleave to whatever can save us. By the end of A Season In Delhi, I had become so attached to Hess’s world that it was to his novel that I wanted to cleave and not let go.”
- David Santos Donaldson, author of Greenland, finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and The Publishing Triangle’s Edmund White Award.
“From the start of Scott Alexander Hess' A Season in Delhi, the reader is taken on a sensual mythical journey into India. What awaits you is a queer poetic experience that is reminiscent of E.M. Forster's A Passage to India, but much more erotic! “
- Andrew Rimby, author of Walt Whitman and Queer Theory, Executive Director, The Ivory Tower Boiler Room PhD, English
“This is a tale of temptation, infidelity, loss, and redemption. But ultimately, it is a taut story of crushing loneliness and the fragility of human connections…With sparse prose, Hess describes the sensual feel of Delhi and Agra. I have visited these fascinating destinations many times, and I can justly say the author took me back there, so rich and true were his descriptions. This is a quick read, but one that resonates in the heart. I treasured each page of this story.”
-Alan Chin, Gay/Lesbian Fiction Book Reviews
“The story twists and heightens in a way that buoys the reader along [...an] engaging novel about a romantically fraught period abroad.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Starless Indian skies provide no guidance for guilty, recently-married Brant. His salvation lies within the pages of an 80-year-old diary buried beneath a tree: the story of another lost soul trapped between fear and desire within the vibrant chaos of Delhi. Scott Alexander Hess’ lush, lively novella brilliantly interweaves secrets from the present and the past, framing infidelities within echoes of time, loss, and our surprising ability to heal.”
-Dana Burnell, author of The Tame Man
“What a fascinating story! In A Season in Delhi, Scott Alexander Hess reminds us that time isn’t linear, that history doesn’t always stay in the past, and that we’re all connected by mystery and magic and the resilient spirit that drives these vehicles we call bodies.”
- Bryan Borland, Founding Publisher of Sibling Rivalry Press
“A Season in Delhi is the story of mirrored moments divided by time. Two Westerners, worldly yet isolated in India, risk their marriages and all the stabilizing comforts of the homes they’ve assembled abroad. One man may be losing his husband for good, all while reading the hidden diary of a woman who made similar bold indiscretions a generation before. The words of Carol echo and sometimes guide Brant as the tension of impending disaster builds — the Diwali festival approaches, where the past and present will meet. A Season in Delhi is transcendental and transformational — a story of the futures expats make, break, and reimagine in foreign lands.”
- L.A. Fields, author of Mrs. Watson: Untold Stories