The Shadows of June : A Novel / Rita Nath Keshari

Indian English fiction writers have often displayed a keen interest in portraying Indian bureaucrats in their novels or shorter fiction because this serves as a valid pretext for sharpening the readers perspectives on the condition of the Indian state. Though the political slant in such novels is inevitable the writers take care to help us understand the finer nuances of human behaviour while confronting state power. However, very few Indian English novels have focused on the induction of young candidates into the administrative system. In other words, civil service aspirants stepping over the threshold to cross into the realms of hardcore bureaucracy have rarely been treated as a fit enough subject for a novel. This transitional phase or the rite of passage has been sensitively portrayed in the novel The Shadows of June.