‘Secrets simmer, things get unhinged in the heat’: Bhavika Govil on her ‘summer’ novel, ‘Hot Water’

Bhavika Govil’s debut novel, Hot Water, circles a family of three – nine-year-old Mira, 14-year-old Ashu, and Ma. It is summer holiday and the days pass by merrily singing Simon and Garfunkel in Ma’s sun-yellow car, watching TV on the sofa, and taking a holiday to a mango orchard. Yet, beneath this tale of proximity lurks another story – that of a family in hot water.

Published by HarperCollins India in 2025, Govil’s novel was shortlisted for the Godrej Literature Live! First Book Award. It is forthcoming in the UK and has already been translated into French. Her short fiction has appeared in Granta, Wasafiri, Extra Teeth, A Case of Indian Marvels, and elsewhere. She has won the Bound Short Story Prize, been shortlisted for the Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize, and longlisted for the TFA Awards for Creative Writing.

Hot Water stands out in its ability to empathise with children. Govil displays a remarkable ability to map their emotions – the reader instantly feels protective of Ashu and Mira. She is sensitive to how quickly the tides of puberty and adolescence change a child, and how fiercely they try to hold on to the remnants of innocence.

In a conversation with Scroll, Govil spoke about why the summer is essential to her novel, juggling...

Read more