The Year of the Runaways

An engrossing story in the tradition of the great 19th-century novels, packed with characters and conflicts and written in a clear, deceptively simple way. This is one of those novels where the author is invisible: you don't hear his voice and there aren't a lot of quotable lines, but the impact is tremendous. It grows and builds rather than showing off. The plot concerns the present-day adventures and background stories of a handful of Indian immigrants scraping out a tenuous living in England. There is nothing sensationalistic about the misery of life on the edge; instead, you realize that this kind of existence gradually wears people down, so that months and years pass before they realize they will never get anywhere. This seemed to be such a constant theme of the novel that I found the ending in some ways surprising and unrealistic, but perhaps I need to reread. By the end of the book, I trusted Sahota's depiction so thoroughly that I was willing to accept almost anything as truth, but I do wonder about the final chapter. This is a novel for people who love traditional novels and yearn to read about sympathetic characters in believable situations. If this doesn't sound exciting, I'm not describing it well enough. The Year of the Runaways is my favorite book so far of 2016, and I highly recommend it for all ages and tastes.

This novel was challenging to read but not because of Sahota's writing skills. It takes the reader out of their comfort zone reading about the struggles of Indian immigrants to the UK, living on the border of legality if not illegal. It certainly asks you to rethink your views about "economic migrants". The novel explores the circumstances which motivate each of the "runaways" to try their luck in Britain, believing as they do that jobs and money will be easily available, enabling them to help their families. Their lives in India are centred on family but constrained by social expectations and gossip. Expectations that the younger generation(male) will have brilliant careers and support their parents and younger siblings; fear of not maintaining a successful facade seems to dominate the lives of the mothers. Women have few opportunities beyond the hope for a satisfactory marriage. All the families' hopes are pinned on the young men who are driven to terrible lengths to realize these hopes. The lives of the young men in England are increasingly driven by desperation- the relentless need to make enough money to support family and pay off debts. They are preyed on by their fellow countrymen who also live on the shady side of the law. They have no recourse to England's social services as most of them are terrified of being found and sent home. The novel exposes some of the truly unpleasant aspects of Indian society as well as the hollowness of the dreams of wealth and status in England. Although the young mens' stories end well, the ending seems tacked on and seems hardly plausible, given their dire and hopeless circumstances. However, the novel is hugely engaging to read and each character's story( there is one woman) reveals another aspect of the endlessly fascinating culture of India.

I got to page 77. I could not go on as there were far too many indian words and terms in it. A glossary would be helpful. I think it maywell be a good read as the characters are developing slowly but the presumption i understand all the terms and culture has put me off. Also, I am from the london area so the description of streets in the north and of towns in india are such that i feel i am lost in a map rather than putting a picture of the place in my head as once again it seems to presume i know of where these streets are. I read a lot if books set in asia and this is the first time i felt a better descrition of the places is needed. If i ever finish this i may well find i get used to this. But page 77 is already a long way in.

I loved this novel and found it very moving. Sahota depicts the brutality of the caste system well and movingly, and also shows how it follows the immigrants with them to a new land. I found his depiction of other aspects of the immigrant experience spot on as well, especially immigrants who don't have the luxury or luck of entering the country on an approved education or work visa. The events of Tochi's past are among the most interesting in the book. The scenes of his family's (SPOILER ALERT!) slaughter are chillingly wrought, and based on real events that happened in Gujarti in 2002. I also especially enjoyed and was moved by the developing relationship between he and Narinder in the last third of the book; Sahota develops it slowly, brick-by-brick as it were. Narinda's penultimate decision near the end of the novel and its emotional costs to her over both the short and long terms are very, very poignantly drawn. Avtar and Randeep were not as well developed in some ways and their stories not compelling. I also wanted a little bit more of Tochi's inner struggles revealed -- we get why he is mistrustful and closed, but a little more about how difficult that must have felt inside would have made for a richer character. Overall though I found this book a compelling, interesting, and moving read, and it stayed with me for days after it ended. As some other reviewers noted, there is indeed a lot of Indian slang and Indian-British slang, and it is indeed sometimes hard to follow. I gave up looking up what the slang meant about a quarter of the way in and didn't feel I lost much by not knowing. Highly recommended.

At times this is a difficult story as three young men - Randeep, Avtar and Tochi - and one young woman - Narinder - all from different backgrounds, travel to England from India. Each has their own motivations, advantages and disadvantages. The men scramble for work while the young woman grapples with faith and filial piety. They interact throughout, alternately supporting and undermining each other. I felt the shape of the novel a little off as it seemed to grind through the poverty, illness, and danger then quickly wrapped up with an epilogue, leaving so much unexplained with everyone’s life tidied up nicely. But the characters seemed real, their stories like so many immigrant stories, and this is the value of this novel - helping the reader see their drive to succeed, their determination, their love for family, their humanity.

This is a wonderful story of life for immigrants from India, arriving with nothing on our wealthy shores. Beautifully written, suspenseful and painfully real. You can feel the characters loneliness, ambition, regret. If you are looking for an additional "Indian novel" Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance , is a brilliant novel of life in India.

Sadly, people (immigrants especially) actually live this way. I feel that this book is an accurate portrayal of Indian culture, as well as the 'culture shock' that immigrants from India receive when they emigrate to other countries (in this case, Great Britain), expecting that they will find work and ultimately, happiness. It makes me question what more we can do to help those who are willing to work hard for a better life, whether in their own homelands or elsewhere. Life is so difficult for so many people around the world; they need HOPE in order to survive. (I gave this four stars instead of five, because, although I think Sahota is a fine writer and his story is important and engaging, it was difficult, sometimes, to understand everything that was going on because of my lack of understanding of the language.)

I have only a few pages left of this book, and I'm afraid to finish it. First, because I have gotten so attached to the characters, that I don't want anything to happen to them, and second, because I don't want the book to end. The book is a Masterpiece. I am surprised that this wasn't mentioned before. I always think I know so much about India, but this book is a shocking revelation of the life of an illegal. It is so much like the plight of the Central Americans that one could be substituted for the other. I don't know what the motivation of the author was with this book, but surely, it is more than a story to entertain the reader.

I'm wary of expat accounts of the desi experience, but this was a refreshing change. I was reading this on a flight where I encountered a young man shipping himself off to a construction site in the Middle East, which tied in perfectly with the narrative. Recommended reading for anyone tired of the current anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Q buen libro, a pesar de dejarte el corazón en un puño. Tremendas las penurias y la explotación a las q se ven sometidos los emigrantes, especialmente por los de su misma raza. Te abre los ojos y nos muestra la exclavitud del 3er mundo en nuestra sociedad "civilizada".

This book has amazed me in several ways. For one, I am not a huge fan of Indian origin or Indian writers and secondly I sometimes doubt the man booker shortlisted books. But this one is a spectacular read. A very rare of its kind that holds the reader right from the first page. His storytelling and narration is beyond comparison. My next pick would definitely be ours is the street.

It’s winter. Randeep lives in Sheffield, England with 13 other Indian illegals. This house is squalid, cramped and cold. He is assigned the breakfast shift this morning, meaning he gets up at 3 to make and pack lunch for the whole crew. The van picks them up at dawn and they spend the next 12 hours at the construction site, laboring and trying to keep warm, all for a pittance. Still, they are thankful there’s work this week. And the house hasn’t been raided yet. Randeep to his room-mate: ‘I mean when you were a kid, did you ever think you’d be working in Sheffield, in England, and living in a house like this? I’d never even heard of Sheffield.’ When Randeep, Avtar and Tarlochan left the misery of their lives in India in search of opportunity and fortune this is not what they had envisioned, and it is this realization that lends poignancy to the novel. These initial pages were written in a pleasant graceful style, the conversations were engaging and book’s overall tone was inviting: I felt as I do when I walk along the beach, enjoying the water’s soothing effect on my toes as I contemplate the sunset. What I didn’t see was the approaching tidal wave that would hurl me into the lives of the various personages and engulf me in their tumultuous vicissitudes. Exploited and threatened, the trio relies on sheer fortitude and determination to ensure their survival. “Runaways” drew me in completely. I was transported to a land and a situation unbeknownst to me and humanized to the plight of these particular migrants and their search for a better life. At book’s end, though sadness pervades, a glimmer of hope emerges.

In the UK we all read a lot in the news about illegal immigrants. But despite what the papers would have you believe, most of us never meet one. Who are the human beings behind the headlines? What leads to them coming here, how do they live, and is it worth it in the end? If you've ever wondered, this novel is a great place to start. It's an insight into the lives of immigrants - illegal and semi-legal - from northern India. Three different young men have arrived in the UK in the hope of finding work and money for their families. This is their story, plus that of a young British Sikh woman who becomes involved in trying to help them. It's a long novel, but absorbing and never dull. Sahota writes very well. I liked his first novel, but this is a league better again - mature, thorough and very relevant to today's world. All three young men are shown to have had pretty awful lives in India, forcing them to try their luck overseas when no opportunities seem to be available at home. But their lives on arrival are miserable too - exploited, overworked, always looking over their shoulders, even fighting amongst themselves. The inclusion of young British 'visa-bride' Narinder provides a female lead and another intriguing story, with a theme of helping others and helping ourselves. It works because the four lead characters are all likeable and interesting and believable characters. Each is a strongly defined individual, we care about them for who they are, not simply as an avatar representing any downtrodden immigrant. They are also all different from each other, reminding us that the general term 'immigrant' hides a multitude of individuals with different hopes, dreams, fears, histories, reasons for being here and personalities. All are hard working, basically decent people, without being saintly or without faults. As a reader you are deeply invested in the characters and thus have an emotional connection with the story and a keen interest in their trials and tribulations. Although it is a book about an 'issue', it doesn't feel that way. It is a book about four particular characters, and much more than just being an exposition on a newsworthy talking point. Anyone who is interested in other cultures would likely enjoy this, and anyone who likes books about humans and people. It reminded me of the work of Rohinton Mistry (one of my favourite authors, so a high compliment). If you enjoy Mistry's books, I think you will like this. It's quite different from Sahota's first novel, so I'm very interested in what he comes up with next - if it's as good as this, it will be a treat.