Western Lane

Chetna Maroos Western Lane is a beautiful and evocative novel about grief, growing up, and losing and winning. It is shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2023, longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2024, and longlisted for the William Hill Award 2023. It is an exploration of the closeness of sisterhood, the immigrant experience, and the collective overcoming of grief.

Format: Hardback
Length: 176 pages
Publication date: 11 May 2023
Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Chetna Maroos' Western Lane has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2023, longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2024, and longlisted for the William Hill Award 2023. It has also been selected as a BBC Arts & The Reading Agency's Big Sporting Read and one of Dua Lipa's Books of the Year. The novel is a beautiful and evocative exploration of grief, growing up, and losing and winning.

Eleven-year-old Gopi has been playing squash since she was old enough to hold a racket. When her mother dies, her father enlists her in a quietly brutal training regimen, and the game becomes her world. Slowly, she grows apart from her sisters, and her life is reduced to the sport, guided by its rhythms: the serve, the volley, the drive, the shot, and its echo.

However, on the court, she is not alone. She is with her father, Ged, a thirteen-year-old boy with his own formidable talent. She is with the players who have come before her. She is in awe.

Chetna Maroos' Western Lane is an unforgettable coming-of-age story that explores the closeness of sisterhood, the immigrant experience, and the collective overcoming of grief. The novel has received critical acclaim, with The Economist, The Independent, The Week, The New York Times, and The Guardian all naming it a Book of the Year.

The novel unfolds in silences, daring to leave much unsaid. It is spare, tender, and brilliantly achieved, with Maroos blowing most of the competition off the court with her stunning debut. Critics have praised the novel for its emotional depth, its nuanced portrayal of characters, and its exploration of the complexities of grief and loss.

Chetna Maroos' Western Lane is a must-read for anyone who loves a powerful and moving story about the human experience. It is a testament to the power of literature to capture the essence of life and to inspire us to think and feel in new and profound ways.

Weight: 292g
Dimension: 143 x 226 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781529094626