Kunal Basu was born in Calcutta and has travelled widely. He lives in Oxford, where he is Reader in Marketing at the Saïd Business School and Templeton College, Oxford University.
 

He is the author of four novels, including THE OPIUM CLERK (2001), THE MINIATURIST (2003), and RACISTS (2006).

A book of short stories, THE JAPANESE WIFE, was published by HarperCollins in May 2008 and the story of the title has been made into a film of the same name by director Aparna Sen for Saregama Films, released in spring 2010.

Kunal’s latest novel, THE YELLOW EMPEROR’S CURE, was published earlier this year by Gerald Duckworth and Co.   Set in China during the Boxer uprising, it is a story about a mysterious death, a remarkable romance and the search for a cure for Syphilis.