Set in the 1930s, Kocharethi revolves around the Malayarayars, a tribe inhabiting the hilly terrains of mid-eastern Kerala. Drawing deeply from oral traditions to underscore the earthy tensions of an adivasi society, Narayan evokes Nature and the Great Spirits to unfold the Malayarayars' changing perceptions of land and its ownership, and documents a life system that is slowly fading into history.
Translated by Catherine Thankamma, this volume includes a detailed Introduction by G.S. Jayasree as well as an in-depth interview with the author. The accompanying illustrations bring to life the story of a community that has remained largely unheard outside Kerala.

Written in 1962, Pulayathara is among the earliest novels that records the complexity of Dalit experience. It focuses on the untouchable Pulaya community of Kerala, documenting the experiences of two kinds of Dalits, those who choose to remain within the subordinating Hindu social order, and those, who convert to Christianity in the hope of receiving assured food, shelter, and education. Chirakkarode sharply critiques the hollowness of religious conversion in a cast-ridden society. The converted Dalits are promptly labelled 'New Christians' as against the Syrian Christians who claim superior ancestry and upper caste status due to their ownership of land and other privileges. Ownership of land and the house built upon it become markers of exclusion and separation. Thevan Pulayan collects clay from the backwaters to create a landmass to build his hut. He pays the landlord for the materials. But the thrill of ownership is shattered when the landlord orders another labourer to occupy Thevan's home. The Dalits who convert to Christianity are allowed to build homes, but these houses fail to provide security and asylum as they stand on a defined piece of land, apart from the homes of the upper caste Hindus and Christians. With the use of language, depiction of Dalit lives, their relationship with the soil, their culture, musical heritage and traditions, Chirakkarode's masterpiece marks a major thematic and stylistic break from canonical upper caste writing.