Gun Island, the new novel by Amitav Ghosh, is out now from Jonathan Ball Publishers.

About the book

Bundook. Gun. A common word, but one which turns Deen Datta’s world upside down.

A dealer of rare books, Deen is used to a quiet life spent indoors, but as his once-solid beliefs begin to shift, he is forced to set out on an extraordinary journey; one that takes him from India to Los Angeles and Venice via a tangled route through the memories and experiences of those he meets along the way.

There is Piya, a fellow Bengali-American who sets his journey in motion; Tipu, an entrepreneurial young man who opens Deen’s eyes to the realities of growing up in today’s world; Rafi, with his desperate attempt to help someone in need; and Cinta, an old friend who provides the missing link in the story they are all a part of.

It is a journey which will upend everything he thought he knew about himself, about the Bengali legends of his childhood and about the world around him.

Gun Island is a beautifully realised novel that effortlessly spans space and time. It is the story of a world on the brink, of increasing displacement and unstoppable transition. But it is also a story of hope, of a man whose faith in the world and the future is restored by two remarkable women.

‘With sweeping exuberant style and extraordinary linguistic facility Ghosh takes us into a world where desperate refugees trickle through borders like water from melting ice, but where massing animals find no escapes. Old legends and ancient myths take on new meaning. This important novel is an account of our current world, the one few writers have had the courage to face.’ – Annie Proulx

‘A rich and rewarding novel that reaffirms the transformative power of topographical and human connection, and registers the rhythms of the quiet and the unquiet life.’ – The Spectator

‘Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island is an extraordinary reading experience from one of our greatest living storytellers. Ghosh masterfully collocates disparate worlds to create a story of family, self, history, and destiny.’ – Neel Mukherjee

‘A book of reckless and persuasive scope, a huge, rambunctious reckoning with our environmental declension.’ – Sunday Times

About the author

Amitav Ghosh is the author of 10 highly acclaimed works of fiction and non-fiction which include the Booker Prize shortlisted Sea of Poppies (book one of the Ibis Trilogy), River of Smoke, The Glass Palace and The Shadow Lines. He has won numerous prizes, some of which are the Sahitya Akademi Award, the Pushcart Prize and the Grinzane Cavour Prize. He divides his time between New York and India.

Categories Fiction International

Tags Amitav Ghosh Gun Island Jonathan Ball Publishers New books New releases