Title: Anthill
Author: Vinoy Thomas
Publisher: Vintage Books
Pages: 352
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In the annals of Indian literature, few stories dare to dig beneath the surface as boldly as Anthill, the masterful translation of the acclaimed Malayalam novel Puttu. Set in the remote, almost mythical village of Perumpadi, where the borders of Kerala and Karnataka blur into each other, this novel unearths the hidden lives and moral complexities of an extraordinary community—one born of scandal, shame, and secrecy.
Anthill is not just a story. It’s a confession, a chronicle, and above all, a confrontation with what lies beneath the facades we construct in the name of civilization.
A Village Like No Other
The story opens with Kunjuvarkey, the community’s accidental patriarch, fleeing into the Kodagu forests with a pregnant girl—his own daughter. It’s a jaw-dropping beginning, setting the tone for a novel unafraid to grapple with uncomfortable truths. The village of Perumpadi grows out of similar stories: people with pasts so dark they had no choice but to disappear from society. In Perumpadi, no one asks questions—because everyone has something to hide.
As decades pass, this motley crew of outcasts and renegades slowly transforms into something resembling a functioning society. The novel cleverly charts this evolution, showing how even in a land without law, norms inevitably begin to form. And in this transition from primal freedom to cultural conformity, Jeremias Paul, also known as “President,” rises as an unlikely moral center.
A Character as Complex as the Village Itself
Jeremias, the son of a man with no surname and no recorded past, embodies the novel’s central tension—between freedom and responsibility, past and present. As the village’s self-styled adjudicator, he navigates local disputes with the wisdom of a sage and the caution of someone always looking over his shoulder. Yet, his own past isn’t spotless. And when it eventually surfaces, the question becomes: Can a man who represents justice be forgiven for his own sins?
The beauty of Anthill lies in how it handles this moral ambiguity. There are no heroes or villains here—just people, flawed and fumbling toward some form of redemption.
A Tapestry of Voices
With over 200 characters, Anthill is a sprawling epic that manages to stay intimate and grounded. The translation does a tremendous job of preserving the biting humour, earthy dialogues, and lyrical prose of the original. The villagers of Perumpadi are drawn with affection and wit, from gossiping grandmothers to sly traders, lonely widows, and hard-drinking forest dwellers. Each voice adds to the novel’s rich emotional landscape.
What emerges is a portrait of a community that, while born out of moral collapse, ultimately yearns for structure, belonging, and redemption. It’s a fascinating inversion of the usual civilization-to-wilderness arc seen in literature.
A Story That Stays With You
Anthill is not a comfortable read—but it is an unforgettable one. It challenges the reader to question the foundations of respectability, the price of reform, and whether society can ever truly escape its origins. With its unflinching look at taboo subjects and its darkly comic tone, this novel punches far above its weight and lingers long after the final page.
If you’re looking for a novel that doesn’t just entertain but asks you to think, feel, and confront the raw underbelly of human existence, Anthill deserves a place on your shelf.