New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS): Numair A. Choudhury had been working on "Babu Bangladesh!"
for well over 15 years but in an extraordinary twist of fate, he passed away in an accident soon after finishing the final draft. His epic first novel will release in 2019, publisher HarperCollins India announced on Monday.

"Rarely does a publisher have the good fortune to come across an epic work of imagination as powerful and compelling as ‘Babu Bangladesh!' This is a book that readers will read and re-read over the years to come with delight and amazement, and it's going to define the nation of Bangladesh for today's readership. It is tragic that this masterpiece is the only novel we're ever going to have from Numair Choudhury; but at the same time it is an absolute thrill to be able to publish this once-in-a-lifetime novel," said Udayan Mitra, Publisher - Literary at HarperCollins.

Flitting between fantasy and reality, manoeuvring through the rainforest swamps of Bangladesh with as much as ease as the immigrant colonies of New York, and blurring the boundaries between myth, history and truth, "Babu Bangladesh!" is billed as an extraordinary work of imagination.

HarperCollins India acquired Indian Subcontinent rights to "Babu Bangladesh!" from the literary agency Writer's Side, and will publish the book under its literary imprint, Fourth Estate, in June 2019.

Numair A. Choudhury passed away in an accident earlier this year.