Sarayu Srivatsa has written extensively on the evolution and growth of cities in newspapers and journals. Her book Where the Streets Lead (1997) won the JIIA Award. She won the Picador-Outlook non-fiction writing award (2002), and has co-authored two books with Dom Moraes: Out of God's Oven, nominated for the Kiriyama Prize, and The Long Strider. The Last Pretence is Sarayu Srivatsa’s first work of fiction. The Last Pretence pulls the reader into magical Machilipatnam, a small town on the Coromandel coast in South India. When Mallika’s firstborn, her daughter Tara dies at birth, finds herself incapable of loving Siva, except when she believes him to be Tara. Siva, eager for his mother’s love becomes increasingly confused about his gender, and his sexuality, and a tragedy unfolds. renuka@osians.com