India, Aug. 6 -- Indian English fiction titles with child protagonists have been few and far between. So, when Bhavika Govil's debut novel opens with eight-year-old Mira talking about a visit to the dentist with her Ma and her disdain for swimming lessons ("What if sea monsters come and tickle my feet? Worse, what if they come and pee on my toes?"), it is both refreshing and intriguing.

Centred around a family of three with Ma and Mira speaking in the first person and a third-person narrative focusing on the teenage trials of 14-year-old Ashu, the premise of Hot Water is not unusual. A single mother and two children, each of them hiding secrets and traumas; a mother's past relationships affecting her present and future; strained sibling ...