Three generations of gay men in South Asia fight for love and dignity against the currents of their times

India. 1970’s. Sukumar is a young man falling in love with another young man, but in the face of social taboos, they have to keep their relationship a secret.

1990s. Sukumar’s nephew is an adolescent in love with his classmate, in a country where persecution of gay people is rife under a colonial-era law that criminalises homosexuality.

2020s. Sukumar’s grand-nephew is an openly gay teenager, navigating love and sex online, in a world where the threat of AI looms large.

A sweeping genre-bending novel that blends autofiction, memoir and imagined family histories. Deviants is the story of a lineage of gay men who must each dare to love and connect while navigating the homophobia, abuse and restriction that is still a daily reality. In this multi-generational tour de force, Bhattacharya crafts a heart-breaking chronicle in what is perhaps the first comprehensive work on the same-sex experience from South Asia.