Me again, banging on about Sunjeev Sahota. I won’t stop until you read him ... Finds a timeless imprint in the hot metal of the moment. The story explores identity politics, that complicated intersection of race, gender and sexual orientation that, depending on your point of view, promotes equity or sanctifies discrimination. It’s the kind of treacherous novel that Philip Roth might have written ... Sahota throws so many disparate parts into this story that it’s something of a miracle when they begin to coalesce ... [A] brilliant novel.
Scruffy, passionate ... The scenes...are the product of Sajjan’s interviews and often have the rough, preliminary feel of an outline, somewhat blunting the poignancy of the revelations about Nayan’s and Helen’s private lives in the final chapters. The novel is strongest when it directly confronts its political questions.
It is the robin’s heartbeats that are particularly impressive in this vividly recreated puzzle of a novel. Despite the cut and thrust of union politics... it is the smaller domestic landscapes that linger in the mind ... A daring novel by a consistently daring novelist who returns repeatedly to the tension between those who leave and those who stay, those who represent and those who are represented.
Though discussions about such issues can at times turn heavy-handed, there’s plenty of heart and suspense in the latest from Booker Prize–finalist Sahota.
Wrings maximum emotional impact out of a seemingly unremarkable life ... Sahota digs deep into the psyche of his protagonist, while asking provocative questions about whose story this really is and how much of it is true. There’s an element of voyeurism that lends something thrilling and incisive to the whole story ... One of those books that will take root quickly and grow in your soul. It’s another powerful achievement for Sahota, and a novel that even readers who are leery of contemporary realism will enjoy.
