The Tusk That Did the Damage

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An original, powerfully moving story, by a rising star of contemporary Indian fiction, about an Indian elephant called the Gravedigger, and the devastation he wreaks on a family. Selected as a Book of the Year 2016 in the Guardian Shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize 'One of the most compelling and unusual novels I've read this year.... A fascinating story of hunters and observers, old mythical gods and modern politics.' Sarah Hall, Guardian Books of the Year When a young elephant is brutally orphaned by poachers, it is only a matter of time before he begins terrorising the countryside, earning his malevolent name from the humans he kills and then tenderly buries with leaves. Manu, the studious son of a rice farmer, loses his cousin to the Gravedigger and is drawn into the alluring world of ivory hunting. Emma is working on a documentary set in a Kerala wildlife park with her best friend. Her work leads her to witness the porous boundary between conservation and corruption and she finds herself caught up in her own betrayal. As the novel hurtles toward its tragic climax, these three storylines fuse into a wrenching meditation on love and revenge, fact and myth, duty and sacrifice. In a feat of audacious imagination and arrestingly beautiful prose, The Tusk That Did the Damage tells an original and heartbreaking story about how we treat nature, and each other.

Reviews

One of the most unusual and affecting books... a compulsively readable, devastating novel.
One of the most compelling and unusual novels I've read this year.... A fascinating story of hunters and observers, old mythical gods and modern politics. * Guardian, Book of the Year *
One of the most compelling and unusual novels I've read this year.... A fascinating story of hunters and observers, old mythical gods and modern politics. * Guardian, Book of the Year *
This gorgeously written novel is unlike anything Ive ever read, and unlike anything youve ever read too. * Glamour *
Impressive...sharp and unnerving sensibility. James offers a captivating rendering of an animal's point of view. Assured and skillful * New York Times Book Review *
Impressive * Guardian *
The Tusk That Did the Damage will leave you breathless as you follow three narrators across the wild plains of India. A poacher, a documentary filmmaker, and an elephant called Gravedigger all illuminate the complexities of the country and culture, and youll be stunned by the authors portrayal of the magnificent, tusked animals central to the characters lives * Time Out New York *
Lusciously written... a thoroughly readable novel that refuses to provide a simplistic perspective on the brutality of elephant poaching * Metro *
Heart-racingly paced...Narrated in part by a pachyderm, it paints a vivid picture of conservation and corruption..a story that moves...with grace and humour, as light-footed as a poacher * National Geographic Traveller *
Ivory trading, poaching, an escaped elephant, a risky love affair, all set in rural South India and blend[ing] the mythical and the politicalthis novel seems to have it all * The Millions *

Author Bio

Tania James's debut novel Atlas of Unknowns was a New York Times Editor's Choice and was shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian literature. She has also written the short story collection Aerogrammes, and her stories have appeared in the New Yorker, Granta, Freeman's- The Future of New Writing, One Story and A Public Space. The Tusk That Did the Damage was shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize. From 2011 to 2012, Tania James was a Fulbright fellow to India living in New Delhi. She now lives in Washington DC.