Ruthvika Rao

Oct 8, 2024 | centerforfiction.org | Rita Bullwinkel |Ruthvika Rao |Mai Sennaar |Clare Sestanovich

Vijaya and Sree are the daughters of the Deshmukhs of Irumi. Hailing from a lineage of ancestral aristocrats, their family’s social status and power over villagers on their land is absolute. Krishna and Ranga, brothers, are the sons of a widowed servant in the Deshmukh household. When Vijaya and Krishna meet, they forge an intense bond that is beautiful and dangerous.

Sep 9, 2024 | scroll.in | Ruthvika Rao

The village of Irumi sits on a small bluff rising out of a valley floor, enclosed by the Eastern Ghats and the Krishna River, beyond which the Nallamala jungle spreads, clinging to the mountainsides like moss. The farthest mountains in the range are blue, and as they grow nearer and nearer to the valley, embracing Irumi, encircling it, they plunge into hill ranges of darkest chlorophyllic green, hiding sandalwood, crawling with tigers and tiger cubs.

Aug 19, 2024 | washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com | Ruthvika Rao

The Fertile Earth, a novel set in the fictional village of Irumi in the real South Indian state of Telengana, feels old-fashioned in the best possible way. Author Ruthvika Rao paints on a huge canvas with many characters and intersecting storylines unfolding from the 1950s to the 1970s, with one last bit set in the 1990s. In the first part of the tale, four children embark on a relatively innocent, if ill-advised, adventure.