New Delhi, Feb 15 (IANS): Penguin Random House India is to publish prizewinning writer Irwin Allan Sealys stunning new novel, titled "ASOCA: A Sutra", an imagined memoir of Ashoka The Great, the emperor who ruled most of the Indian Subcontinent and played a pivotal role in the spread of Buddhism from India to other parts of Asia in the 3rd century BC.

Earlier, Penguin had published the 30th anniversary edition of Sealy's critically acclaimed debut novel "The Trotter-Nama".

"Asoca", tells the story of the emperor who went from masterminding one of the biggest and deadliest wars to becoming one of the most profound advocates of non-violence. The beauty of Sealy's prose will transport readers to a time and place that is remarkable.

‘With ‘Asoca', I'm delighted to be back with old friends at Penguin", says the author.

Manasi Subramaniam, Executive Editor and Head of Literary Rights, Penguin Random House India, says: "It's an incendiary, powerful work that appears to combine the very best of Allan's preceding books. Slipping easily from mock gravitas to straightforward humour, his infinite variety is on full display here. It's a rich, dark-but-whimsical parable about nationhood and violence and religion and personal dilemmas. I found it irreverent, funny and poignant, rich with skepticism and heart. I absolutely loved it."

Irwin Allan Sealy was born and raised in India. He has lived and worked in Canada, the USA, New Zealand and Australia. His first novel "The Trotter-Nama" was published in 1988 by Knopf and tells the story of seven generations of an Anglo-Indian family. The book garnered great praise and acclaim.

Allan has won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Best First Book, Europe and South Asia, in 1989, the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1991, the Crossword Book Award in 1998, and received the Padma Shri in 2012. He lives in Dehradun.