Red Skies & Falling Stars by Diti Sen

Youngest of three daughters born to a well-to-do Bengali businessman of Calcutta, Rumi’s idyllic and carefree childhood is divided equally between her sophisticated Calcutta home and the small, mofussil town in rural Bihar that is their holiday retreat.

As the Naxalite movement is born and overtakes the city of Calcutta in the late ’60s and early ’70s, Rumi’s eldest sister gets unwittingly drawn into its vortex, unleashing a chain of events that tears the family apart and shapes its collective and individual destinies over three generations. 

Set against the violent politics of a movement that aims at redressing social inequalities, the story traces its direct fallout on people caught inadvertently in the crossfire and the tragic consequences, compelling a re-visiting of thoughts and attitudes by the protagonists and arriving at brand new destinations.