Description
A Dream. A Threat.
A Mumbai-based drag queen must return to their ancestral village to confront an uncanny opponent: A demonic jackfruit tree.
Centuries ago, a man and a woman in search of an elusive treasure fall into the servitude of a dark force that transmogrifies into a gigantic jackfruit Tree.
Generation after generation, their descendants serve the Tree. It’s a vicious cycle of greed and cowardice. And then, a voice of dissent. A descendant defies the gender, familial and social expectations. They manage to break free and build an authentic life, far away from the Tree’s malevolent gaze. But then, they realise that the Tree still holds the reins of their destiny.
Will the drag queen defeat the Tree and break the vicious cycle of servitude? Will they claim absolute freedom?
The Tree, the Well & the Drag Queen blends folklore, myth and magic with a contemporary exploration of gender identity as it follows a queer person’s quest for freedom and authenticity.
Vineeth’s writing draws, in ways that are synchronised with the story, from a myriad genres — fantasy, horror, fairytale, folklore and queer narrative — to weave and construct a tense and sensitive picture of the protagonist’s journey. — Indira Chandrasekhar
Salini Vineeth spins a solid yarn, placing questions of identity and personhood at the heart of the narrative. I read The Tree, the Well, and the Drag Queen in a single sitting. — Tanuj Solanki
In Salini Vineeth’s gentle, evocative prose, the pain has the clarity of the morning dew, and redemption the certainty of the all-absorbing land in which it is set. A must read from one of India’s new storytellers. — Jayasree Kalathil
This is more than a fantasy novella; it’s a bold, emotional journey that keeps you turning pages, rooting for freedom, identity, and self-liberation. — Sudipto Pal
Salini Vineeth is a fiction writer and translator. She worked as an engineer for ten years before moving to full-time writing in 2019. Since then, she has published five books — Lost Edges (novel), Magic Square (novella), Everyday People (short story collection), and travel guides for Hampi and Badami. She has also translated four books from English to Malayalam. She is the fiction editor of Mean Pepper Vine, a quarterly literary magazine. salinivineeth.in
