The Year of the Runaways

Shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize, 'The Year of the Runaways' by Sunjeev Sahota is praised as "a brilliant and beautiful novel" by Kamila Shamsie in the Guardian, and likened to 'The Grapes of Wrath for the 21st century' by the Washington Post. The novel narrates the ambitious dreams and relentless challenges faced by an unlikely family, brought together by fate. Thirteen young men cohabitate in a Sheffield house, each having fled India in pursuit of a new beginning. Among them is Tarlochan, a former rickshaw driver who keeps his past in Bihar shrouded in silence. Avtar harbors a secret that compels him to safeguard the unpredictable Randeep, who himself is connected to a "visa-wife" living across town—a smart, devout woman who keeps her husband's clothes ready in case immigration officials arrive unannounced. Spanning the landscapes of India and England, and weaving through times from childhood to the present, Sahota's novel, much like Rohinton Mistry's 'A Fine Balance,' is a poignant tale of honor amidst hardship and the indomitable triumph of the human spirit.