AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVEL FOR 2023LONGLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD'A
joy to read a full universe of feeling an effortless page-turner by a born storyteller' Max
Porter author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers 'Devastating and intimate and political and
radical all at the same time. Bhattacharya's storytelling talents are limitless' Nikesh Shukla
'Exceptional ... you have complete faith that Bhattacharya will take you to all the right
places. Heartbreaking and yet so full of hope' Melody Razak author of Moth
____________________________________________ India 1992. The country is ablaze with riots. In
Lucknow ten-year-old Shubhankar witnesses a terrible act of mob violence that will alter the
course of his life: one to which his family turn a blind eye. As he approaches adulthood
Shabby focuses on the only path he believes will buy him an escape - good school good degree
good job good car. But when he arrives in Mumbai in his twenties he begins to question
whether there might be other roads he could choose. His new friends Syed and Shruti are
asking the same questions : together buoyed by the freedom of the big city they are rewriting
their stories. But as the rising tide of nationalism sweeps across the country and their
friendship becomes the rock they all cling to this new life suddenly seems fragile. And before
Shabby can chart his way forward he must reckon with the ghosts of his past . . . Dazzling and
deeply moving One Small Voice is a novel of modern India: of violence and prejudice
friendship and loyalty community and tradition and of a young man coming of age in a country
on fire. ____________________________________________ 'A compassionate many-layered chronicle
of trauma and recovery following mob violence in contemporary India One Small Voice is a
wonderful timely contribution to world literature' Tsitsi Dangarembga author of This
Mournable Body 'Bhattacharya has the enviable ability to create a cast of characters that feel
as real as any person I've met. His effortless writing sings on the page and by the time you
get to the end you'll wish you didn't have to leave his mind so soon' Kasim Ali author of
Good Intentions 'Whilst the plot turns on our capacity for cruelty Bhattacharya's book brims
with compassion. A novel about the complexities of adulthood and the shame we all carry that
is both fearless and kind' Clare Pollard author of Delphi
