The Five Wounds · Book Two
Peacetime
A woman who counted a whole town and left one line in a register.
No waiting for the courier. Start reading Peacetime here tonight: the preface and Chapters One and Two are free. After that, ₹19 a chapter, or the whole book for ₹159 instead of ₹269.
Start reading freeThe whole book · ₹159 ₹269
Kamla came to the dispensary town as a bride of nineteen, and for thirty years she counted. She counted what was owed and what was short, whose child had not eaten, which of her husband’s patients had stopped coming. Nobody outside the lane knew her name and nobody inside it could manage without her. At fifty-one, offered the operation that would save her, she refused, and left one line in a register that would govern her son’s whole life. The quietest book of the five, and the one holding up the other four.
PaperbackWalnut Publication205 pagesOut now: 18 September 2026Buy on AmazonBuy on FlipkartISBN 978-93-6926-308-0
Watch
The trailer for Peacetime
100 seconds, 4K, with sound.
From the novel
An extract from Peacetime
The book can say what it was. It was an army, magnificently supplied, waiting for a front.
Read Chapter One in full, free The preface and Chapters One and Two are free on the site; after that, 19 rupees a chapter.
Who you will meet
Characters in Peacetime
Every one of them is carrying something.
Kamla
The first name in the register.
In Peacetime, Clean Hands
“I have never dropped anything I decided to carry.”Peacetime
Raghunath
The dispensary doctor. Seat 23.
In Clean Hands, Peacetime, The Third Woman
“Accounts never balance. They only continue.”Peacetime
Dev Mehra
The cleanest surgeon in the country.
In Clean Hands, Peacetime, The Third Woman
“Do not carry it alone.”Clean Hands
Ira
Army nurse. Never speaks of her mother.
In Clean Hands, Peacetime, The Third Woman
“She could run any disaster on earth.”Clean Hands
Moments
Scenes from Peacetime
The bride steps down
November 1969. Last off the bus: a girl of twenty-two, and everything she owns in one tin trunk.
The moon night
The whole lane looks up at the moon. She is the one pouring the tea.
The morning queue
Six o’clock at the dispensary pump, and a queue kept in order with one raised hand.
The Water Year
The flood year. She stands in the boat and holds it steady, and the town learns who she is.
Three things kept
Objects in Peacetime
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The book
Peacetime: publishing details
- Title
- The Five Wounds (Vol 2): Peacetime
- Series
- The Five Wounds, Book Two of five
- Author
- Manu Vishranti (the pen name of Manav Sharma)
- Publisher
- Walnut Publication
- Format
- Paperback, 5.5 x 8.5 in, 205 pages
- List price
- 361 rupees
- ISBN
- 978-93-6926-308-0
- Language
- English
- Published
- 18 September 2026
- Buy
- On Amazon, on Flipkart and from Walnut Publication
Behind the book
Notes on Peacetime
Short, sourced notes on the real things the book is built from.
Questions readers ask
Questions about Peacetime
What is Peacetime about?
Book Two of The Five Wounds by Manu Vishranti. A woman who counted a whole town and left one line in a register. Kamla came to the dispensary town as a bride of nineteen, and for thirty years she counted. She counted what was owed and what was short, whose child had not eaten, which of her husband’s patients had stopped coming. Nobody outside the lane knew her name and nobody inside it could manage without her. At fifty-one, offered the operation that would save her, she refused, and left one line in a register that would govern her son’s whole life. The quietest book of the five, and the one holding up the other four.
Where does Peacetime come in The Five Wounds?
Peacetime is Book Two of the five novels in The Five Wounds by Manu Vishranti. It comes after Clean Hands and before All the Summers at Once.
What is the ISBN of Peacetime?
The paperback from Walnut Publication, registered as The Five Wounds (Vol 2): Peacetime, has ISBN 978-93-6926-308-0.
How long is Peacetime, and what does it cost?
Peacetime is a 205 page paperback, 5.5 by 8.5 inches, with a list price of 361 rupees from Walnut Publication.
Who wrote Peacetime?
Manu Vishranti, the pen name of Manav Sharma. Peacetime is part of The Five Wounds, his first published work of fiction.
Is this the only book called Peacetime?
Other books share the title. This Peacetime is Book Two of The Five Wounds by Manu Vishranti, published in paperback by Walnut Publication in September 2026, ISBN 978-93-6926-308-0. It is the one with Kamla: the first name in the register.
When was Peacetime published, and where can I buy it?
Walnut Publication published it on 18 September 2026, in paperback, with the rest of The Five Wounds. It is on sale now on Amazon and Flipkart, and it can be read on this site straight away.
Can I read Peacetime online?
Yes. The preface and Chapters One and Two are free on manuvishranti.com, with no sign-up. After that each chapter is 19 rupees, or the whole book is 159 rupees (launch offer; regular price 269), paid once by UPI. It opens straight away, so there is no wait for delivery.