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Saving Maya
A single mother’s life is filled with hope and the possibility of finding love again…
Endearing and earnest, Saving Maya is a heart-warming novel about the beauty of second chances.
Endearing and earnest, Saving Maya is a heart-warming novel about the beauty of second chances.
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About the author
Kiran Manral
28 books88 followersAfter quitting her full-time journalist’s job when her son was born, Kiran became a mommy blogger, on the internet, with a remarkably original voice. She was a journalist at The Asian Age, The Times of India, features editor Cosmopolitan, India Cultural Lead and Trendspotter at Gartner Iconoculture, Senior Consultant at Vector Insights and Ideas Editor, SheThePeople.TV. Kiran is currently a celebrated Author and an independent research and media consultant.
She was shortlisted for the Femina Women Awards for Literary Contribution in 2017. The Indian Council of UN Relations (ICUNR) with the Ministry of Women and Children, Govt of India, awarded her the International Women’s Day Award 2018 for excellence in the field of writing. In 2021 she was awarded the Womennovator 1000 Women of Asia award. In 2022, she was named amongst the 75 Iconic Indian women in STEAM by Red Dot Foundation and Beyond Black, in collaboration with the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India, and British High Commission, New Delhi.
Her novella, Saving Maya, was long-listed for the 2018 Saboteur Award, supported by the Arts Council of England in the UK. The Kitty Party Murder was shortlisted for the Popular Choice award at the 2021 JK Papers TOI AutHER awards and has been optioned for a series.
Her other books include The Reluctant Detective, Once Upon A Crush, All Aboard, Karmic Kids-The Story of Parenting Nobody Told You, A Boy’s Guide to Growing Up, True Love Stories, 13 Steps to Bloody Good Parenting, Raising Kids with Hope and Wonder in Times of a Pandemic and Climate Change, More Things in Heaven and Earth, Rising 30 Women Who Changed India, Rising 2.0: 20 More Women Who Changed India, All Those Who Wander and The Moon in the Lining of her Skin.
She also has published short stories in various magazines, in acclaimed anthologies like Have A Safe Journey, Boo, The Best Asian Speculative Fiction 2018, Grandpa’s Tales, Magical Women, City of Screams, The Hachette Book of Indian Detective Fiction and Hell Hath No Fury.
Her nonfiction book, Karmic Kids: The Story of Parenting Nobody Told You, was listed amongst the top five books on parenting by Indian authors in 2015 by the Sunday Guardian.
The Face at the Window, released in 2016, was listed amongst the top 30 books written by women authors in 2016 by The Ladies Finger, as among the must read books by contemporary women authors by BuzzingBubs and received much critical acclaim. The Times of India stated that “Manral may have very well pioneered the "Himalayan Gothic" genre” with this book. Her novella, Saving Maya, was long listed for the 2018 Saboteur Awards, UK, supported by the Arts Council England, The Kitty Party Murder was shortlisted for the AutHER Awards 2020 Popular Choice Awards. The Face at the Window was long listed at Jio MAMI Word to Screen and showcased at the Singapore International Film Festival. Monster Complex listed her in their global list titled "Urban Fantasy Showcase: 100 Authors To Know and Their Works." Desi Blitz listed her amongst the top seven horror writers from India. Her book, The Face at the Window, was listed in HoneyKids Asia's list of top picks of Asian Horror books alongside books like Han Kang's The Vegetarian, and The Ring. Bookstr.com listed her amongst "6 Fascinating Asian and Pacific Islander Horror Authors."
She was shortlisted for the Femina Women Awards for Literary Contribution in 2017. The Indian Council of UN Relations (ICUNR) with the Ministry of Women and Children, Govt of India, awarded her the International Women’s Day Award 2018 for excellence in the field of writing. In 2021 she was awarded the Womennovator 1000 Women of Asia award. In 2022, she was named amongst the 75 Iconic Indian women in STEAM by Red Dot Foundation and Beyond Black, in collaboration with the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India, and British High Commission, New Delhi.
Her novella, Saving Maya, was long-listed for the 2018 Saboteur Award, supported by the Arts Council of England in the UK. The Kitty Party Murder was shortlisted for the Popular Choice award at the 2021 JK Papers TOI AutHER awards and has been optioned for a series.
Her other books include The Reluctant Detective, Once Upon A Crush, All Aboard, Karmic Kids-The Story of Parenting Nobody Told You, A Boy’s Guide to Growing Up, True Love Stories, 13 Steps to Bloody Good Parenting, Raising Kids with Hope and Wonder in Times of a Pandemic and Climate Change, More Things in Heaven and Earth, Rising 30 Women Who Changed India, Rising 2.0: 20 More Women Who Changed India, All Those Who Wander and The Moon in the Lining of her Skin.
She also has published short stories in various magazines, in acclaimed anthologies like Have A Safe Journey, Boo, The Best Asian Speculative Fiction 2018, Grandpa’s Tales, Magical Women, City of Screams, The Hachette Book of Indian Detective Fiction and Hell Hath No Fury.
Her nonfiction book, Karmic Kids: The Story of Parenting Nobody Told You, was listed amongst the top five books on parenting by Indian authors in 2015 by the Sunday Guardian.
The Face at the Window, released in 2016, was listed amongst the top 30 books written by women authors in 2016 by The Ladies Finger, as among the must read books by contemporary women authors by BuzzingBubs and received much critical acclaim. The Times of India stated that “Manral may have very well pioneered the "Himalayan Gothic" genre” with this book. Her novella, Saving Maya, was long listed for the 2018 Saboteur Awards, UK, supported by the Arts Council England, The Kitty Party Murder was shortlisted for the AutHER Awards 2020 Popular Choice Awards. The Face at the Window was long listed at Jio MAMI Word to Screen and showcased at the Singapore International Film Festival. Monster Complex listed her in their global list titled "Urban Fantasy Showcase: 100 Authors To Know and Their Works." Desi Blitz listed her amongst the top seven horror writers from India. Her book, The Face at the Window, was listed in HoneyKids Asia's list of top picks of Asian Horror books alongside books like Han Kang's The Vegetarian, and The Ring. Bookstr.com listed her amongst "6 Fascinating Asian and Pacific Islander Horror Authors."
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 26, 2019
My introduction to Kiran Manral was with this book. Loved it so much that immediately procured few more of her books for binge reading.
Her characters are real and relevant. Writing style is simple yet elegant.
I am recommending this book to my friends.
Her characters are real and relevant. Writing style is simple yet elegant.
I am recommending this book to my friends.
December 2, 2020
Maya is a woman approaching middle-age, trying to look after her growing son while putting her divorce behind her and also getting back to professional life amidst all of this. She is conscious of many things – primarily her appearance, which she feels has been neglected in the years since her son came into being, but also whether she is equipped to deal with the many things she has to be doing in life as a single mother. To cap it all off is the arrival of a neighbour who just happens to be, as dudes in books like this one do, everything she has dreamt of. Maybe.
Simply but wisely written, Manral lets the story breathe. The novel is actually quite short, but a lot happens over the course of it despite the relaxed movement of the narrative.
Maya is an interesting character, though she does often come across, in bits and pieces at least, as a much younger woman than she is.
Manral throws in a few interesting characters to support Maya, the most appreciable of which is her kid, pretty much like any other primary schooler (they say the strangest stuff and behave weirdly and are maybe a little off, in my humble opinion).
I disagree with the direction in which Manral chose to steer the plot, perhaps because I found Maya and the things she did interesting enough to follow without having to keep track of a romantic subplot which, as opposed to the rest of the book, felt rather contrived and a tad bit rushed as well.
Still, there are worse, much worse routes for a novel to go down, and I’d recommend Saving Maya just for its protagonist.
Simply but wisely written, Manral lets the story breathe. The novel is actually quite short, but a lot happens over the course of it despite the relaxed movement of the narrative.
Maya is an interesting character, though she does often come across, in bits and pieces at least, as a much younger woman than she is.
Manral throws in a few interesting characters to support Maya, the most appreciable of which is her kid, pretty much like any other primary schooler (they say the strangest stuff and behave weirdly and are maybe a little off, in my humble opinion).
I disagree with the direction in which Manral chose to steer the plot, perhaps because I found Maya and the things she did interesting enough to follow without having to keep track of a romantic subplot which, as opposed to the rest of the book, felt rather contrived and a tad bit rushed as well.
Still, there are worse, much worse routes for a novel to go down, and I’d recommend Saving Maya just for its protagonist.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews