"‘A work of historic significance’ – BENYAMIN A journalist goes to Theeyoor – ‘the land of fire’ – to investigate the unnaturally large number of suicides and disappearances there. Even after he finished the assignment, however, Theeyoor refuses to leave his consciousness. And so, he decides to write its history, telling it through various documents: his own notes, the anecdotes told to him while researching the suicides, Wardha Gopalan’s book The History of Theeyoor, information provided by a local newspaper agent, personal papers of individuals, as well as some ‘incidents’ that the journalist himself imagines. In N. Prabhakaran’s masterful hands – and in Jayasree Kalathil’s brilliant translation – history, myth, facts, nature, political events, and the everyday concerns of ordinary people weave together into a story that is at once local and universal."