A Passage North: SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2021 by Anuk Arudpragasam

'Mesmerizing, political, intimate, unafraid - this is a superb novel... that pays such close, intelligent attention to the world we all live in' Sunjeev Sahota, author of the Booker shortlisted The Year of the Runaways

A story of age and youth, loss and survival that builds into a magisterial reckoning with mortality from a prize-winning Sri Lankan Tamil author

It begins with a message: a telephone call informing Krishan that his grandmother's former caregiver has died. As Krishan makes the long journey by train from the Sri Lankan capital into the war-torn Northern Province for the funeral, so he travels into the soul of a country devastated by civil war.

A Passage North is a poignant memorial to the dead and an exploration of the unattainable distances between who we are and what we seek.

'Its world is the deeply-layered, rich interior of its protagonist's mind but also contemporary Sri Lanka itself, war-scarred, traumatized ... [It] connects Arudpragasam to the great novelists of the past' Colm Tóibín, bestselling author of Brooklyn

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Hamish Hamilton; 1st edition (13 July 2021)

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0670094897

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0670094899

Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 322 g

Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14 x 4 x 20 cm

Review

'A novel of tragic power and uncommon beauty. In his depiction of the processes through which history sculpts human fate, Anuk Arudpragasam achieves something akin to grace' -- Anthony Marra, author of the New York Times bestseller A Constellation of Vital Phenomena

'Mesmerizing, political, intimate, unafraid-this is a superb novel, a novel that pays such close, intelligent attention to the world we all live in' -- Sunjeev Sahota, author of China Room and The Year of the Runaways

'Written with scrupulous attention to nuance and detail, A Passage North captures the rich interior of its protagonist's mind but also contemporary Sri Lanka itself, war-scarred, traumatized. At its center is an exquisite form of noticing, a way of rendering consciousness and handling time that connects Arudpragasam to the great novelists of the past' -- Colm Tóibín, author of Brooklyn and The Testament of Mary

'Anuk Arudpragasam's first book already showed what a fine novelist he was, and this second novel provides proof, if any were needed, that he is a major writer, vastly accomplished. Life is short but remembering is long. In the aftermath of war, Anuk Arudpragasam's rich, rewarding sentences return the reader to all that is living' -- Amitava Kumar, author of Immigrant, Montana

'A profound and disquieting account of the making of a self, of the pressures of history, desire, will, and chance that determine the shape of a life. It's difficult to think of comparisons for Arudpragasam's work among current English-language writers; one senses, reading his two extraordinary novels, a new mastery coming into being' -- Garth Greenwell, author of Cleanness and What Belongs to You

'Anuk Arudpragasam is an artist of revelations. In A Passage North, he continues to map, with beauty, grace, and fire, the responsibilities we carry in a world that is forever on the brink. This is a novel as both an elegy and a love song, not only for a place, but for the souls, living and dead, who are bound to that place-what an unforgettable and perfect reading experience, and one that unearths truths, relentlessly, magically' -- Paul Yoon, author of Snow Hunters and Run Me to Earth

About the Author

Anuk Arudpragasam was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and moved to the United States at the age of eighteen, where he attended Stanford and Columbia Universities. His first novel, The Story of a Brief Marriage, was translated into six languages, won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature and was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. He currently divides his time between Sri Lanka and India.