“It is a story about the weight of the years and the vagaries of connection, the progress of civilisation and the regress of humanity. Dark and light notes come together to create the eponymous song that plays like a background score to the individual and national tragedies that make up its plot… A fictional saga like Railsong demands not only imaginative daring, but also dogged discipline. Bhattacharya delivers on both counts abundantly. It has been well worth the wait for him to arrive at this sublime, clear-eyed vision of India”
Bloomsbury India will publish Railsong, the highly anticipated new novel by acclaimed writer Rahul Bhattacharya, on 4 November 2025. Bloomsbury acquired world rights for Railsong from literary agent Shruti Debi. The novel will be published globally by Bloomsbury Publishing, with simultaneous release in the US and the UK in February 2026. The book will be released in India first, ahead of the international editions, making it available to Indian readers several months in advance of its global publication.
In an innovative marketing initiative, Bloomsbury India will release two distinct covers for the book, designed specifically for the Indian readership. This will offer bookshops a unique proposition, catering to diverse tastes, and enhance the visibility of Railsong in physical stores across the country.
‘This was a Test so fluctuating in fortune, so rich with the accumulated alluvium of the summer’s sessions and days, so alive with possibility, that even as MohammadSiraj’sbrilliance brought it to a fevered conclusion it hinted at a beginning.’
‘This was a heartbreak so large, on a margin so paltry, it was beyond measurement on any sporting Richter. Its particular cruelty was that it happened to the most courageous sportsperson her country has ever produced, which was also its feeble consolation.’
For The Cricket Monthly’s series on the greatest one-dayers ever played: a long essay on the haunting semi-final at the 1999 World Cup, plus a shorter one on the heartwarming epic in Karachi, 2004.
