Lata’s
mother decides it is time she found a suitable boy for her youngest
daughter, and this quest is woven in to the lives of many others,
set against the fascinating backdrop of a newly-independent India
approaching its first ever General Election.
A touching
and enthralling book about love, politics and human relationships;
DO NOT be put off by the length. I didn’t want it ever to
finish.
A plane
explodes on the way from India to England, but instead of falling
to their deaths, the descent of Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha
is slowed until they land, softly. But one has the attributes of
an angel and the other begins growing horns and hooves...
A fascinating
insight into the life of immigrant Indians in the UK as well as
a superbly written look at religion, this is enchanting.
Called
“the greatest novel ever written”, this explores huge
themes such as mortality and faith, but most of all love. Tolstoy
gets right inside Anna’s head, who is forced to choose between
her lover and her child. Her fraught life is contrasted with Levin
and his simple love for Kitty and his search for the answers in
life.
Dominick
promised his mother on her deathbed that he would care for Thomas,
his paranoid schizophrenic brother. But when Thomas makes a shocking
sacrifice, Dominick is forced to address the enormous personal cost
of being the brother who escaped.
Extremely
readable, gripping and profound, it is a truly satisfying novel.
Larry
Cook is a successful American farmer who suddenly decides to give
his farm up to his daughters. Based on King Lear, it is more than
a retelling. It examines the dark side of family relationships and
society’s expectations of women, and both enhances and subtly
alters the play.
The
family of Addie Bundren set out to fulfil her dying wish, to be
buried with her people in Jefferson, Mississippi. But it is flood
season and the harsh journey draws out bitter realities.
Told
in the voices of Addie, her husband and five children, this is powerful,
achingly beautiful and astonishingly skilled.
Moose
Malloy wants to find Little Velma, and Philip Marlowe, the quintessential
private eye, is drawn in to a case that is not as simple as it appears.
Without
doubt one of the best works from the greatest detective fiction
writer ever.
It
begins with a wrong number in the middle of the night, and Quinn,
a detective fiction writer, embarks on an adventure, impersonating
a private eye on a mystery raising far more questions than he can
answer. This trilogy of stories investigate the nature of identity,
literature and story-telling itself, borrowing from the canon.
Postmodern
without being wanky, Paul Auster is a true master.
After
ten years of marriage and two children, Nina’s husband leaves
her for another woman. She is devastated but finds strength in her
friendships. A classic relationship drama story-line, but this is
very funny and holds up to repeated readings.
Dirk
Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
Douglas Adams
Richard
MacDuff, a computer expert visits an old college professor who performs
an impossible magic trick. Meanwhile, an electric monk ends up unexpectedly
on earth and Richard's girlfriend's brother is shot. These and other
seemingly unrelated events are actually interconnected in unseen
ways, but it will take one eccentric but extremely intelligent
man to unravel how...
