The island came out of the golden pot of Ma Kamala, which she gave to the pirate Pedru to rule. However, there are mythical and mystical elements to the story about how Dhanapati is not only the village headman but also the giant tortoise of lore that swam in from depths of the oceans and fell asleep here to be seen when the waters recede in the winter months.

Dhanapati was the last Pedru, but he was now old and blind, unable to rule his island for long. He then gifted it to his seventeen-year-old wife, Kunti. Will Dhaneshwari, the new ruler, be able to save the island and its women from the lustful eyes of the administration? Or will the government acquire the island? Or will Kunti be able to cast her spell and get the old tortoise to float away with the island on his back?

The Island of Dhanapatir combines the elements of myth, allegory and magic realism with a folklore of rare beauty.

Amar Mitra (Author)
Amar Mitra is a Bengali writer living in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Born on 30 August 1951, he was awarded with Sahitya Akademi award in 2006 for his novel Dhruboputra. He has received the Bankim Puroskar from Government of West Bengal for the novel Aswacharit in 2001, the Katha award (Delhi ) for the short story 'Swadeshyatra' in 1998, the Sharatchandra Award in 2018.

He participated in the First Forum of Asian Countries' Writers in Nur Sultan city, Kazakhstan in September 2019, and presented the paper 'Mythical Life' at the inaugural session presided by President of Kazakhstan.

Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey (Translator)
Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey has been a journalist for twenty-four years. She started her career with the Statesman and later joined the Times of India. Since 2007 she has been writing both fiction and non-fiction in English and Bengali. She also translates from both languages.