Turns of the century

These 10 novels came out 100 years ago. They launched careers, caused scandals, changed literature. Read them now, they're still full of fire

- Christalle Fernandes

No one does unreliable narrators better than Agatha Christie, the queen of detective fiction.

The fourth in her Hercule Poirot series changed her career almost overnight. Fans say the twist catches them off-guard even on a rereading. The book (no spoilers) has all of her favourite devices: A country house, a group of mildly-suspicious people, a dead body (or two). Do NOT Google it before reading. It'll ruin everything.

Aka, the one that launched Georgette Heyer, Regency novel OG. The setting: 1700s France and England. Justin Alastair, Duke of Avon, rescues Leonie from slavery. He even takes revenge on her sinister father. Of course, she's hotheaded personality. Of course he's witty. He's a hero... Or is he? The tale seems darker a century on. There's a two-decade age difference between him and Leonie. But the formula still works.

A Bengali novel about an underground society working to overthrow the Raj. A tale of Sabyasachi Mallick (aka Doctor) who fights policemen single-handedly, dons and discards disguises in a blink of an eye, and speaks multiple languages. Bollywood knows Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay as the author of Devdas. But this book has more fire. It seemed so anti-revolutionary and seditious, the British banned it a year after its publication.