Francis Itty Cora

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Francis Itty Cora, a 15th-century pepper merchant from Kerala, is a larger-than-life figure - founder of a mysterious secret cult, a key figure in the Italian Renaissance, responsible for setting up secret Hypatian schools of mathematics, a man of legendary sexual prowess, and much more. The author deftly weaves real-life historical and contemporary events and characters into an intriguing plot that moves back and forth between the distant and not-so-distant past and the present, traversing continents in the process. At one level a racy thriller with the stock-in-trade surprise denouement, Francis Itty Cora is a more layered book that at a deeper level contests established history to offer provocative alternative readings and challenges taboos of every kind - social, sexual, emotional, and ethical. The original Malayalam version of Francis Itty Cora has achieved cult status in Kerala. It has received several best novel awards, gone into eight editions, and is being made into a film. Its Tamil translation is shortly to be published.