History’s Angel
Anjum Hasan
Bloomsbury, £18.99, pp288
Donnish history teacher Alif is forever drawn to the past, but as a Muslim in Modi’s India, even he is finding it hard to ignore an increasingly intolerant present. When a Hindu student goads him about his faith on a school trip to a Mughal monument, Alif impulsively reaches out to twist the boy’s ear, setting in motion a calamitous sequence of events. With violence spreading across Delhi, Anjum Hasan deploys pathos and Urdu poetry – itself a product of India’s multifaith heritage – to illuminate his heartbreak. It’s a beautiful novel, timely and elegiac.
Alone: Reflections on Solitary Living
Daniel Schreiber (translated by Ben Fergusson)
Reaktion Books, £14.95, pp152
Romantic love, suggests the author of this engaging extended essay, is the lone “grand narrative” to have survived seismic societal shifts in modern times. That’s all well and good but it does, he notes, leave the long-term single feeling like abject failures. Schreiber, the author of a well-received biography of Susan Sontag, here fuses memoir with intellectual flair, quoting from philosophers and psychoanalysts as he considers the lot of a larger than ever group of people. Hermits and intimacy, the taboo of loneliness and the consolation of friendship – all find their place in a meditation that acknowledges joy and adversity.
On Java Road
Lawrence Osborne
Vintage, £9.99, pp240 (paperback)
The pro-democracy protests that convulsed Hong Kong in 2019-20 form the backdrop to Lawrence Osborne’s moody whodunnit. The island itself is intimately evoked, its markets and mansions well known to expat reporter Adrian Gyle, based there since the 1997 handover. He’s the novel’s narrator, but its plot hinges on his old university friend Jimmy Tang, who’s been having an affair with a young student, now missing. Is Jimmy really to be trusted? A finely judged blend of mystery and menace will keep you guessing.
• To order History’s Angel, Alone or On Java Road go to guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply
