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Imprint: Chatto & Windus
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Published: 30/01/2020
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ISBN: 9781784743086
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Length: 352 Pages
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Dimensions: 240mm x 33mm x 162mm
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Weight: 573g
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RRP: £14.99
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line
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LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE 2020
‘Anappara creates an endearing and highly engaging narrator to navigate us through the dark underbelly of modern India’ Observer
We children are not just stories. We live. Come and see.
Nine-year-old Jai watches too many reality cop shows, thinks he’s smarter than his friend Pari (even though she always gets top marks) and considers himself to be a better boss than Faiz (even though Faiz is the one with a job).
When a boy at school goes missing, Jai decides to use the crime-solving skills he has picked up from episodes of Police Patrol to find him. With Pari and Faiz by his side, Jai ventures into some of the most dangerous parts of the sprawling Indian city; the bazaar at night, and even the railway station at the end of the Purple Line. But kids continue to vanish, and the trio must confront terrified parents, an indifferent police force and soul-snatching djinns in order to uncover the truth.
‘A heartrending tale’ The Times
‘A drama of childhood that is as wild as it is intimate’ Chigozie Obioma, Booker Prize shortlisted author of An Orchestra of Minorities
‘Extraordinarily good, deeply moving and thought provoking with brilliant characterisation. A very important book’ Harriet Tyce, bestselling author of Blood Orange
‘Extraordinary... moving and unpredictable... remarkable’ Washington Post
**One of the Observer’s 10 best debut novelists of 2020**
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Imprint: Chatto & Windus
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Published: 30/01/2020
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ISBN: 9781784743086
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Length: 352 Pages
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Dimensions: 240mm x 33mm x 162mm
-
Weight: 573g
-
RRP: £14.99
Reviews
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"It’s not hard to see why Djinn Patrol is one of the most eagerly awaited debut novels this spring. It feels like a reckoning with modern India and its many complex problems… Anappara cleverly filters a uniquely Indian horror story through a chirpy, Famous Five-esque narrative and the voice of a witty, young, have-a-go hero"
Johanna Thomas-Corr, The Times
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"Djinn Patrol is storytelling at its best. The prose is not just sympathetic, vivid, and beautifully detailed, but also completely assured and deft. We care about these characters from the first page and our concern for them is richly repaid"
Anne Enright, Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Gathering
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"In Jai, Anappara has created a boy vivid in his humanity, one whose voice somersaults on the page. Rich with easy joy, Anappara’s writing announces the arrival of a literary supernova... (Warning: If you begin reading the book in the morning, don’t expect to get anything done for the rest of the day.)"
Lorraine Adams, New York Times Book Review
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"Anappara's characters brim with swagger and spirit and she creates a world of wit, warmth and heart"
Nina Stibbe, i
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"Extraordinary... moving and unpredictable... remarkable"
Maureen Corrigan, Washington Post
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"A brilliant debut"
Ian McEwan, Sunday Times bestselling author of Atonement
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"Deepa Anappara’s richly textured and delightfully observed debut evokes the sights and sounds of a sprawling Indian city. Every detail rings true... Day-to-day life in the slums has such vitality that you immediately warm to the residents, with their resilience and dry humour"
Max Davidson, Mail on Sunday
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"A moving and confident novel about the preciousness of life. The storytelling is distinctive and immersive"
Nikesh Shukla, author and editor of The Good Immigrant
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"It’s difficult to convey what’s so special about Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line without spoilers, but suffice to say it’s transformed utterly by its concluding chapters... [Anappara] delivers something more powerful and complex than the vast majority of more highly crafted novels. The narrative goes beyond portraying how the poor of India have been betrayed by their government, and suggests they might also be betrayed by the stories we like to tell about them. Jai has to grow up overnight: this book asks that the reader does, too."
Sandra Newman, *A dazzling debut* Guardian
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"In this thrilling reading experience, Deepa Anappara creates a drama of childhood that is as wild as it is intimate. Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is an entertaining, wonderful debut"
Chigozie Obioma, Booker-prize shortlisted author of An Orchestra of Minorities
