Summary of Riot by Shashi Tharoor

Summary of Riot by Shashi Tharoor
Riot is a novel centered on the mysterious death of Priscilla Hart, a 24-year-old American student and volunteer in India, who is killed during communal riots in the fictional town of Zalilgarh, Uttar Pradesh, amid the aftermath of the Babri Masjid agitation. Priscilla, in India for public health research, becomes romantically involved with Lakshman, the married district magistrate. Their affair unfolds against rising Hindu-Muslim tensions, culminating in violence and Priscilla’s murder during the riots. The story is told through multiple, often contradictory, perspectives-diaries, interviews, and news reports-highlighting the complexities of truth, history, and communal conflict. Priscilla’s divorced parents and an American journalist arrive to uncover the truth behind her death, encountering only fragmented narratives and unresolved questions. The novel explores themes of love, cultural collision, religious fanaticism, and the impossibility of fully knowing the truth in the chaos of communal violence.

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