Sari Shop, The

A gem of a novel about the stuff life's made of It is another working day in Amritsar, and Ramchand is late again. He runs through the narrow streets to Sevak Sari House, buried in the heart of one of the city's main bazaars. There, amongst the Bangladesh cottons and Benaras silks, Ramchand and his fellow shop assistants sit all day, patiently rolling and unrolling yards of coloured fabric. Then, one afternoon, Ramchand is sent to a new part of the city with a bundle of saris carefully selected for a trousseau. His trip to Kapoor House jolts him out of the rhythm of his daily routine and his glimpse into this different world charges him with an urgent sense of possibility. And so, armed with a second-hand English grammar book and a battered Oxford Dictionary, a fresh pair of socks and a bar of Lifebuoy soap, Ramchand attempts to realize the dream that his childhood had promised. But soon these efforts turn his life upside down, bringing him face to face with the cruel reality of his very existence. The Sari Shop heralds the arrival of a writer who combines a profound sensitivity with humour and unflinching honesty. Rupa Bajwa's story is both heartbreaking and very real, and depicts a modern world in which hope and violence are permanently entwined.