Set in a time of rising Hindu nationalism, Quarterlife is an attempt to examine the forces that shape political belief. The novel came out in India in 2023, where it was a finalist for five literary awards and won the Mathrubhumi Book of the Year and the Ramnath Goenka Sahitya Samman for Best Fiction. Quarterlife was published internationally in 2024-25. It has been named a best book or a recommended read of the year by over a dozen publications. Translations are underway in German and Italian. 

Praise for Quarterlife

'Powerful, demanding, rewarding.'

―Anthony Cummins, Daily Mail

'An intimate epic set in Modi's India… Quarterlife is a revelation, full to the brim with muscular provocations on democracy, progress, radicalisation, majoritarianism, modernity and tradition… It deserves the widest attention.'

―Yagnishsing Dawoor, The Observer

'An acutely portrayed and ambitious reckoning with contemporary Indian

sociopolitics and ethics... Dwelling in shadows, multiplicities and liminalities, Quarterlife never loses sight of its anchor points, or indeed, its reader.' 

―Sana Goyal, The Guardian

'A fearless achievement… Most contemporary novels are too narrow to allow for the truly dialogical. Rege, by contrast, redefines the dialogical as a kind of tight counterpoint… Diversity is here the means of inquiry, inextricable from the questions the novel asks of diversity… Rege's seriousness of purpose runs like an electrical wire through the book.'

―James Wood, The New Yorker

'By a distance the best debut of the year... The scope of the book's ideas and textured rendering of its characters contribute to an oceanic feeling of simultaneous scale and intimacy. It is akin to the sensation we experience when immersed in the great Russian fiction of the 19th century… And as with the Russian classics, the beating heart of Quarterlife is the quest for meaning.'

 ―Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal

'Essential… one of the most ambitious literary works to come out in years.'

 ―John M. Clum, New York Journal of Books

'More formally inventive than just about any debut novel I have read recently.'

―Merve Emre, Public Books

'A remarkable debut novel that feels as if it had been lived with and thought through for years, its every choice deeply considered and yet also brave…  Quarterlife enacts the splendors and miseries of democracy in a deeply antidemocratic moment.'

 ―Nicholas Dames, Public Books, Public Picks of the Year

‘Quarterlife is one of the best character-driven novels out in India this year: it is wholly about how people think, how their perceptions shape their behaviour, and how those perceptions may change... This, one feels, is a reflection of reality.'

―Madhulika Liddle, Open Magazine, India

'A landmark novel... Rege has a vast descriptive repertoire, is willing to take astonishing risks with structure, and is immaculate in her numerous interiority dives. Her hand is so sure it is often impossible to believe that Quarterlife is a debut.'

―Tanuj Solanki, The Indian Express

‘You want to admire the way Rege uses words to cut and soothe all at once... The rhythm in her sentences feels new, and marks the arrival of a voice we have not heard before in Indian literature in English.'

―Swati Daftuar, The Hindu

'For some time, the need for a contemporary novel that takes the Indian political landscape head-on has been acutely felt. Quarterife arrives on the scene with elegance and aplomb… Steering the narrative away from becoming a crusade to find reason in political pockets, the story bears witness to an extraordinary moment in history. Quarterlife is a testament to the clarity truth can gain from craft.'  

―Shubhangi Tiwari, Scroll India

'Quarterlife is that rare novel that dares to speak differently… It would be a mistake to consider this a merely political novel. In fact, one of the exceptional pleasures of reading it is its quiet intimacy. It reminds us that no matter how strongly we articulate ourselves, we are all creatures with contradictions.'

―Madhavi Mahadevan, Moneycontrol, India

'With such brutality to contend with, it is almost shocking to find such delicacy of attention, such depth of listening, and such ability to hold us, simply and directly, with wisdom and with grief.'

―Sampurna Chattarji, National Herald, Best Books of 2023

'What a blazingly original voice, what a fiercely intelligent engagement with world politics and culture. Devika Rege is at the forefront of a new generation of authors who are challenging notions of what transnational literature can do.'

―Vauhini Vara, author of The Immortal King Rao

'Quarterlife should be read by anyone seeking to understand the political and social tensions at work in 21st-century India. Rege's imaginative sympathy includes voices and perspectives that a lesser novelist would discount.' 

―Hari Kunzru, author of Blue Ruin

'Finally, a novel about our roiling times by a writer of clear-eyed empathy, the ability to listen closely and to step out of cosmopolitan cocoons. I am reminded of the genius of Kiran Nagarkar. Utterly masterful and moving.'

―Gauri Gill, author of Acts of Appearance

'What begins as a novel of ideas becomes the secret history of a nation. A superb read, both moving and inspiring.'

―Jeet Thayil, author of Narcopolis

'Dazzling, sophisticated, and wholly achieved in its ambition, Quarterlife emerges out of the tradition of the philosophical novel. Devika Rege is a transformative novelist.'

―Maureen McClane, author of More Anon