The Five Wounds · Book Four
The House of Auspicious Hours
A family that buys its life in sanctioned hours.
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In the Malhotra house, time is a bazaar. Three generations have bought their whole lives in the sanctioned hours of one family almanac: marriages, businesses, the day a child may be born. Then the son who was born in the family’s first ambiguous hour discovers that the astrologer they have trusted for twenty years has been blind, and inventing the sky out of mercy. Not whether fate is real, but what a family is using it to hold up, and what falls when you take it away. The longest and the loudest of the five.
PaperbackWalnut Publication328 pagesOut now: 18 September 2026Buy on AmazonBuy on FlipkartISBN 978-93-6926-311-0
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From the novel
An extract from The House of Auspicious Hours
In the Malhotra house, time was not a river. It was a bazaar. Some hours were cheap and some were ruinous and some were closed outright, and for three generations the family had shopped there for its entire life with one book as its only purse.
Marriages were bought in the bright stalls of the sanctioned fortnights. Business was forbidden in the dark lanes of the eighth month.
Read Chapter One in full, free Chapters One and Two are free on the site; after that, 19 rupees a chapter.
Who you will meet
Characters in The House of Auspicious Hours
Every one of them is carrying something.
Divya
She sees what others cannot.
In All the Summers at Once, The House of Auspicious Hours, Dead Letter
“Did you read it, or did you make it up?”The House of Auspicious Hours
Shanti Dadi
She rules the house, and the calendar.
In The House of Auspicious Hours
“Monday. Nobody wash their hair.”The House of Auspicious Hours
Kishori Lal
The pandit who reads the sky without seeing it.
In The House of Auspicious Hours
“My hearing has always been better than my eyes.”The House of Auspicious Hours
Myra
Fourteen. Phone face down.
In The House of Auspicious Hours
“Everybody is somebody’s seventh house for two hours a day.”The House of Auspicious Hours
Adit
Four sheets in the second drawer.
In The House of Auspicious Hours, Dead Letter
“It was not in the book.”The House of Auspicious Hours
Umpire Baba
Four thousand decisions. One raised finger.
In Clean Hands, The House of Auspicious Hours, Dead Letter
“Karn also reached the wrong address by river, postman.”Clean Hands
Ashu
A fixer with no surname.
In Clean Hands, All the Summers at Once, The House of Auspicious Hours, Dead Letter
“Say that again slowly, and I will tell you which part of it is true.”Dead Letter
Moments
Scenes from The House of Auspicious Hours
The bazaar of hours
In the Malhotra house, time was not a river. It was a bazaar.
One thing kept
Objects in The House of Auspicious Hours
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The book
The House of Auspicious Hours: publishing details
- Title
- The Five Wounds (Vol 4): The House of Auspicious Hours
- Series
- The Five Wounds, Book Four of five
- Author
- Manu Vishranti (the pen name of Manav Sharma)
- Publisher
- Walnut Publication
- Format
- Paperback, 5.5 x 8.5 in, 328 pages
- List price
- 526 rupees
- ISBN
- 978-93-6926-311-0
- Language
- English
- Published
- 18 September 2026
- Buy
- On Amazon, on Flipkart and from Walnut Publication
Behind the book
Notes on The House of Auspicious Hours
Short, sourced notes on the real things the book is built from.
Questions readers ask
Questions about The House of Auspicious Hours
What is The House of Auspicious Hours about?
Book Four of The Five Wounds by Manu Vishranti. A family that buys its life in sanctioned hours. In the Malhotra house, time is a bazaar. Three generations have bought their whole lives in the sanctioned hours of one family almanac: marriages, businesses, the day a child may be born. Then the son who was born in the family’s first ambiguous hour discovers that the astrologer they have trusted for twenty years has been blind, and inventing the sky out of mercy. Not whether fate is real, but what a family is using it to hold up, and what falls when you take it away. The longest and the loudest of the five.
Where does The House of Auspicious Hours come in The Five Wounds?
The House of Auspicious Hours is Book Four of the five novels in The Five Wounds by Manu Vishranti. It comes after All the Summers at Once and before Dead Letter.
What is the ISBN of The House of Auspicious Hours?
The paperback from Walnut Publication, registered as The Five Wounds (Vol 4): The House of Auspicious Hours, has ISBN 978-93-6926-311-0.
How long is The House of Auspicious Hours, and what does it cost?
The House of Auspicious Hours is a 328 page paperback, 5.5 by 8.5 inches, with a list price of 526 rupees from Walnut Publication.
Who wrote The House of Auspicious Hours?
Manu Vishranti, the pen name of Manav Sharma. The House of Auspicious Hours is part of The Five Wounds, his first published work of fiction.
Is this the only book called The House of Auspicious Hours?
Other books share the title. This The House of Auspicious Hours is Book Four of The Five Wounds by Manu Vishranti, published in paperback by Walnut Publication in September 2026, ISBN 978-93-6926-311-0. It is the one with Divya: she sees what others cannot.
When was The House of Auspicious Hours 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 The House of Auspicious Hours online?
Yes. 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 239 rupees (launch offer; regular price 399), paid once by UPI. It opens straight away, so there is no wait for delivery.