Sports fiction

Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis'A beautiful and evocative novel about grief, about growing up, about losing and winning. The people and places in this book will stay with me for a long time.' – Sally RooneyA 'Book of the Year' in The Economist, The Independent, The Week, The New York Times and The GuardianA deeply moving novel about grief, sisterhood, squash and a teenage girl's struggle to transcend herself.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. Her life is reduced to the sport, guided by its rhythms: the serve, the volley, the drive, the shot and its echo.But on the court, she is not alone. She is with her pa. She is with 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.An unforgettable coming-of-age story, Chetna Maroo’s first novel is a moving exploration of the closeness of sisterhood, the immigrant experience, and the collective overcoming of grief.'With this gorgeous debut, Maroo blows most of the competition off the court.' – The Times'Stunning . . . Spare, tender, brilliantly achieved . . . A novel that unfolds in silences . . . and dares to leave much unsaid.' – The GuardianTrade Review'Western Lane is a beautiful and evocative novel about grief, about growing up, about losing and winning. The people and places in this book will stay with me for a long time.' -- Sally RooneyA slim, subtle debut novel of grief and growing up that conjures a powerful panoply of emotions * The Economist, 'The Best Books of 2023' *Stunning . . . Spare, tender, brilliantly achieved . . . A novel that unfolds in silences . . . and dares to leave much unsaid. * The Guardian *A deeply evocative debut about a family grappling with grief, conveyed through crystalline language -- The Judges of the Booker PrizeThis gorgeous tale about a family reeling from loss stands out from the debut crowd… This quiet, elegantly compressed coming-of-age novel . . . operates most powerfully in the gaps outside the plot . . . Few novelists write this simply and richly. With this gorgeous debut, Maroo blows most of the competition off the court. * The Times *Maroo’s quiet sentences contain multitudes on cultural tensions and grief, on the wordless love between a father and a daughter. * The Telegraph *Terrific . . . A symphony of emotion . . . A bold book and a quietly brilliant one * The Economist *The beauty of Maroo’s novel lies in [its] unfolding, the narrative shaped as much by what is on the page as by what’s left unsaid . . . In this graceful novel, the game of squash becomes a way into Gopi’s grief and her attempts to process it. * The New York Times *Melancholy is only one of the moods of this short but brimming book. Squash is also a channel for Gopi’s rage; for connections with other players and her longsuffering father; and for a joyous kind of freedom of expression. The novel ends with the tournament, as it must, and Ms. Maroo’s writing achieves its most graceful rhythms and prescient insights. You’ll want to applaud. * The Wall Street Journal *A vivid depiction of grief, love and sisterhood * Independent *Starting off as an intimate tone poem, this story of a squash-obsessed teenager expands into something with the amplitude, depth, and ringing power of a great symphony. In other words--WOW. Western Lane is glorious. You’ll want to read it over and over again. -- Aravind Adiga, author of The White TigerCombining the precision and the efficiency of an athlete with the mysteries of childhood loss and memory, Western Lane is a novel in which we linger on every breathing line and relish every close observation. What an exceptionally talented writer Chetna Maroo is!' -- Yiyun Li, author of A Thousand Years of Good Prayers and Where Reasons End[A] slim, subtle, moving story . . . about grief and growing up in a Gujarati family in Britain . . . A bold book [and] a quietly brilliant one. -- A D Miller, Booker-shortlisted author of SnowdropsChetna Maroo captures with great poignancy and accuracy the bewilderment and groping for meaning that loss brings—but also how small acts of kindness ultimately redeem us from this loss. Truly a gem of a novel, this deceptively simple story told in a sparse, elegant style kept revealing its depths long after I had closed its pages. -- Shyam Selvadurai, author of Funny BoyLean, agile, and quietly deadly, Western Lane is a coming-of-age story of extraordinary artistic maturity. It is a book of young people muscling themselves through unreconciled grief, and it is a book of simmering intensities, reverberating silences, and exquisite literary timing. This is a book to both share and treasure. -- David Chariandy, author of BrotherThere are no villains in this exquisite novel (unless you include Death); everybody wants what is best and behaves with kindness. It could be syrupy-sweet, like Aunt Ranjan’s gulab jamun, but it isn’t. * TLS *A profoundly resonant novel . . . This is a debut in which Chetna Maroo gets every choice right, even the riskier ones. It reminds me of Kazuo Ishiguro’s A Pale View of Hills in that sense, and it has the same quality of being so calm, so confident, so close to the profound and yet rooted in real experience. The writing is beautiful and wise. * The Irish Times *

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Book Synopsis"Experienced journalist and debut novelist Martini spent a decade researching the real men whose stories form the basis of this work of fiction, and it shows in the both epic and intimate details that make this story spring to life. In Martini's prose, one can almost hear the tires screeching around the track, from the dry deserts of Libya to the damp mountains of Italy, from the sparkling streets of Monaco all the way to the shores of the United States. Amid the pungent fumes of gasoline, readers will also feel the sense of dread as the world inched closer to war. A sprawling, adrenaline-drenched story that will appeal even to readers who know next to nothing about auto racing." - Kirkus Reviews; In this epic novel about the motor-racing heroes of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, legendary characters battle to win incredible races on switchback roads along the edges of ravines. Exploring the relationships between the champions as much as the sporting events themselves, this is a thrilling tale based on the true rivalries, triumphs and disasters during a fascinating period in European sporting history.Trade Review"Martini writes about the dawn of motor racing, a violent and treacherous sport where men serviced their addiction to speed and etched their names in history with blood. Enjoy riding with the greats, it's a rush." - Ben Collins aka The Stig; "Every fan of motor racing should read this book. How the legendary Italian drivers of the past forged the sport we love today with blood and bone." - Mario Andretti, motor sport legend"; A great read! An incredible tale of skill and courage based on true events." - Alex Baldolini, 250cc/moto2 WSS rider; "Tracks" is written in a romantic, nostalgic tone, almost with a film noir feel. ... an eye opener."--The New York Times ; "A sprawling, adrenaline-drenched story that will appeal even to readers who know next to nothing about auto racing."--Kirkus Reviews; "The subsequent decade of research has resulted in a dramatic and lively novel, set in an era that has always been ripe for this type of fictional treatment. It would make a good movie." -- Motor Sport Magazine ; "If you love motor racing, this is definitely the book for you. Martini has written a gripping novel set in the 1930's when competition was strong between motor racing heroes of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany."-- IMDb; "...a monumental achievement that brings to life the motor racing experience of Italy and Germany during the first half of the twentieth century. It's a remarkable story that is impeccably written and researched."-- Readers Favorite "Meticulously researched, beautifully crafted, and a captivating read from beginning to end, Tracks: Racing the Sun focuses on the men and women plying their trade and skills in the early days of motor racing, breathtakingly told against a rich background of Il Duce's Italy and Hitler's Germany." --Historical Novel SocietyTable of ContentsAuthor biography Novel Author's notes

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Book Synopsis

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