Mad Sisters of Esi

By: Tashan Mehta

Narrated by: Zehra Jane Naqvi

Myung and her sister Laleh are the sole inhabitants of the whale of babel—until Myung flees, beginning an adventure that will spin her through dreams, memories, and myths.

Ask for the story of the mad sisters of Esi, and you'll get a thousand contradictory folktales. Superstitious sailors, curious children, and obsessed academics have argued over the particulars for generations. They have wondered about the mad sisters' two greatest marvels: the museum of collective memory that sprawls underneath our universe, waiting for any who call for it, and the living, impossible, Whale of Babel.

Myung and her sister Laleh are the sole inhabitants of the Whale of Babel. They roam within its cosmic chambers, speak folktales of themselves, and pray to their creator, the Great Wisa. For Laleh, this is everything. For Myung, it is not enough.

When Myung flees the whale, she stumbles into a new universe full of people, shapeshifting islands, and argumentative ghosts. In her search for Great Wisa and her longing for her sister Laleh, Myung sets off on an adventure that will unravel the mystery that has confounded everyone for centuries: the truth about the mad sisters of Esi.

Fables, dreams, and myths come together in a masterful work of fantasy full of wonder and awe, that asks: in the devastating chaos of the world, where all is in flux, and the truth is ever-changing, what will you choose to hold on to? And what stories will you choose to tell?

Susanna Clarke's Piranesi meets Italo Calvino's If On a Winter's Night a Traveler in this stunning meta fantasy about the power of stories, belief, and sisterhood.

©2025 Tashan Mehta (P)2025 Podium Audio

Outstanding novel and performance

Story: Tashan Mehta has crafted an incredible tale about madness, memory, community, and the love of sisters. The reader feels as if they have the universe inside them, but while the story is cosmic and huge in its scale, it is also so tenderly human.

Narration: Naqvi is a truly captivating performer. The depth of her characters added to the book’s gravity. I cried many times while listening, and, while the writing was powerful by itself, I’m convinced the emotion she added was what broke my heart in the best way.

Please give this audiobook a shot! I’m going to be relistening again and again!