The Year of the Runaways, Sunjeev Sahota
The Year of the Runaways, Sunjeev Sahota
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The Year of the Runaways

Author: Sunjeev Sahota

Narrator: Sartaj Garewal

Unabridged: 15 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/29/2016


Synopsis

Three young men, and one unforgettable woman, come together in a journey from India to England, where they hope to begin something new—to support their families; to build their futures; to show their worth; to escape the past. They have almost no idea what awaits them.

In a dilapidated shared house in Sheffield, Tarlochan, a former rickshaw driver, will say nothing about his life in Bihar. Avtar and Randeep are middle-class boys whose families are slowly sinking into financial ruin, bound together by Avtar's secret. Randeep, in turn, has a visa wife across town, whose cupboards are full of her husband's clothes in case the immigration agents surprise her with a visit.  

She is Narinder, and her story is the most surprising of them all.  

The Year of the Runaways unfolds over the course of one shattering year in which the destinies of these four characters become irreversibly entwined, a year in which they are forced to rely on one another in ways they never could have foreseen, and in which their hopes of breaking free of the past are decimated by the punishing realities of immigrant life.  

Reviews

Goodreads review by Paul

THE FACTS ABOUT THIS NOVEL Number of horrible things that happen to people : 825 Number of nice things that happen to people : 3 Number of times young Sikh illegal immigrants ask shops, factories, take-aways and warehouses for work : 279 Number of times they actually get a job: 7 Number of times they eat......more

Goodreads review by Joan

Edna O’Brien once complained, “There is hardly any distinction between a writer and a journalist – indeed most writers are journalists.” I couldn’t help thinking of this as I read The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota, one of the books shortlisted for the Booker this year. This is a closely-obs......more

Goodreads review by Ron

Granta magazine tapped Sunjeev Sahota as one of the 20 best young writers of the decade, and his new novel, “The Year of the Runaways,” was shortlisted for last year’s Booker Prize, and yet it’s only now reaching the United States. That seems like an intolerable delay for such a celebrated book, but......more

This book was highly educating and very interesting to read! It deals with several Indians who all move illegally to London in order to earn enough money for their poor families back home. The characters don't know each other, but gradually their fates entwine. I knew about illegal workers and about......more