Discover the “extraordinary” (The Washington Post) debut novel that “announces the arrival of a literary supernova” (The New York Times Book Review),“a drama of childhood that is as wild as it is intimate” (Chigozie Obioma). LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE In a sprawling Indian city, three friends venture into the most dangerous corners to find their missing classmate. . . . Down market lanes … to find their missing classmate. . . .
Down market lanes crammed with too many people, dogs, and rickshaws, past stalls that smell of cardamom and sizzling oil, below a smoggy sky that doesn’t let through a single blade of sunlight, and all the way at the end of the Purple metro line lies a jumble of tin-roofed homes where nine-year-old Jai lives with his family. From his doorway, he can spot the glittering lights of the city’s fancy high-rises, and though his mother works as a maid in one, to him they seem a thousand miles away. Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line plunges readers deep into this neighborhood to trace the unfolding of a tragedy through the eyes of a child as he has his first perilous collisions with an unjust and complicated wider world.
Jai drools outside sweet shops, watches too many reality police shows, and considers himself to be smarter than his friends Pari (though she gets the best grades) and Faiz (though Faiz has an actual job). When a classmate goes missing, Jai decides to use the crime-solving skills he has picked up from TV to find him. He asks Pari and Faiz to be his assistants, and together they draw up lists of people to interview and places to visit.
But what begins as a game turns sinister as other children start disappearing from their neighborhood. Jai, Pari, and Faiz have to confront terrified parents, an indifferent police force, and rumors of soul-snatching djinns. As the disappearances edge ever closer to home, the lives of Jai and his friends will never be the same again.
Drawing on real incidents and a spate of disappearances in metropolitan India, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is extraordinarily moving, flawlessly imagined, and a triumph of suspense. It captures the fierce warmth, resilience, and bravery that can emerge in times of trouble and carries the reader headlong into a community that, once encountered, is impossible to forget.
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To Kill A Mockingbird by way of New Delhi. Big themes, phenomenal perspectives, depth and inventiveness – and all through the eyes of children living in the New Delhi “bastis” or “slums.” A significant, impressive achievement full of soul and characters you will never forget. Nothing is harder to write convincingly than first person child narratives; I stand in awe of the author’s abilities in this. I cannot recommend it more highly.
Important story, but just lacking in plot. Well written.
This novel is very well written, but incredibly sad. By the end of the book the 9 year old protagonist has lost the few things that make up his life as a child in an Indian slum. He has no hope, and it is obvious that his parents have been destroyed by the events of the book.
The plot, 3 slum children trying to solve the mysterious disappearance of other slum children, paints a bleak picture of the lives of slum dwellers in India.
I read this novel as a follow-up to the non-fiction National Book Award winning Beyond the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. Anappara’s ability to show the dangerous, everyday world of India’s undercities through the eyes of a child is breathtaking and heartbreaking. And although the novel addresses terrible crimes, the early chapters of the book reminded me—with great delight—of my favorite childhood detective stories.
This book was fun, painful, riveting—a poignant story depicting characters rarely written about. Kudos to this author for pushing them front and center. I was charmed by the nine-year-old detective, Jai, and his friends and family.
A caveat: I was overwhelmed at first and really needed the glossary of terms in back. However, once past that detail, and into the rhythm of the language, the story built in power. I think I will always remember it.
Extraordinarily good, deeply moving and thought provoking with brilliant characterization… A very important book.
A brilliant debut.
Storytelling at its best — not just sympathetic, vivid, and beautifully detailed, but completely assured and deft… We care about these characters from the first page and our concern for them is richly repaid.
A stunningly original tale… I stayed up late every night until I finished, reluctant to part from Deepa Anappara’s heart-stealing characters.
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is a moving and confident novel about the preciousness of life. The storytelling is distinctive and immersive.
Deepa Anappara is a writer of considerable talent. This is a wonderful, energetic book filled with humour and pathos. Charming, sensitive and deeply moving.
The children at the heart of this story will stay with you long after you turn the last page… A wonderful debut.
A profoundly emphatic work of creative genius that will stay with you forever.
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line brings to light the problems in the slums of India. Poverty, corrupt police and politicians, the extreme differences socio-economically, and the astonishing number of children that go missing every day. However, none of these things were really expanded upon.
Jai and Pari are the main characters along with their friend Faiz. They are all nine years old. When children start disappearing from their basti, Jai is determined to use his detective skills (learned from watching Police Patrol on tv) to find them. As more children go missing, neighbors turn against neighbors. The Hindu population blames the Muslim population. The police and politicians don’t seem to care as they largely ignore the slums except to extort them.
I really wanted to love this book. However, I found the title and the summary to be very misleading. There is no djinn patrol. Djinns are mentioned only on occasion and never with much detail. The Purple Line is rarely mentioned. The children (Jai and Pari) sneak away to take the Purple Line only once. The scenes in which children are abducted are rather repetitive. There is no real depth to the story.
I was given this ARC in exchange for an honest and fair review. The opinions in this review are my own. Thank you Goodreads and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read and review this book.