'Never Never Land': Author Namita Gokhale's new novel to release on Feb 22

New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi Award winner author Namita Gokhale is set to return with new novel "Never Never Land" in February, announced publishing house Speaking Tiger on Wednesday.

The book, scheduled to hit the stands on February 22, will be unveiled at the 17th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF).

Set in the Himalayan region of Kumaon, Gokhale's latest novel examines "female friendship, love, the ageing of the body, the mind and memory, and loneliness".

"'Never Never Land' is a novel that kept surprising me while I was writing it; the story seemed to flow almost by itself and the characters appeared to have a life of their own," said the author of over 20 books, including the much-celebrated "Paro: Dreams of Passion", about her upcoming novel.

It is the story of Iti Arya, a lonely middle-aged woman, who fled the towers and bright lights of Gurgaon for "The Dacha" -- a remote cottage in the Kumaon Himalayas -- where she had spent perhaps the happiest years of her childhood.

Over the course of that single monsoon in the hills, in the company of two grandmothers -- Badi Amma and Rosinka Paul Singh -- and a mysterious girl who may be her sister, Arya makes peace with her approximate life and quiet desolation.

"She will witness the vanity of youth, but also its vulnerability and tenderness; the indignities of age, and also its courage and consolations. She will submit to life and the eternal spirit of the mountains," read the description of the book.

Gokhale's previously authored books include "Shakuntala, Jaipur Journals", "Things to Leave Behind" and "The Blind Matriarch".