The Spoiled Heart
A breathtaking novel of love and politics, with a deeply moving family mystery at its heart
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
In one night, Nayan lost everything. Years later, his world is at risk again.
Nayan has fought hard to move on, losing himself in his political work, trying to make a better world. A fresh challenge arrives with newcomer Megha, who threatens not just his career ambitions, but his ideals.
Meanwhile the enigmatic Helen Fletcher returns to Chesterfield and Nayan finds himself growing close to her. But Helen carries secrets which connect her to Nayan in ways he doesn’t realise.
The Spoiled Heart is an explosive story of how a few words or a single action – to one person careless, to another, charged – can trigger a cascade of unimaginable consequences.
’One of Britain’s finest writers…page-turning’ Observer
‘Withheld revelations and dark secrets...plot-packed, propulsive’ New York Times
‘Gripping...irresistible...brilliant’ The Times
'Utterly compelling, original and very moving' Tessa Hadley
‘Moving and revelatory’ Financial Times
‘Smart and sophisticatedly written’ Daily Telegraph
‘Perfectly paced…gripping’ Guardian
Readers are obsessed with The Spoiled Heart:
**‘A deft and artful novel when it comes to speaking around the philosophical questions that define our current 'culture wars'
**‘A compelling story that looks at a number of social and cultural issues but is basically a very absorbing narrative’
**‘A masterful novel which asks important topical state-of-the-nation questions’
**‘My favourite of Sahota's novels’
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sahota (China Room) returns with a beautifully constructed tale of a British Indian factory worker who attempts to find solace in his labor union and a new romance many years after losing his mother and son in a fire. Nayan Olak, 42, is running for general secretary of the union, which represents workers at the air conditioner factory in Chesterfied, England, where he's dedicated his life. Megha Sharma, who's also of Indian descent, opposes him in the race. Though either of them would be the organization's first nonwhite general secretary, Megha positions herself as the "change candidate," claiming their fellow workers of color need protection from hateful assaults like the recent one on a retail worker in their union. Nayan, with his "curdled charisma," focuses his campaign on interracial working-class solidarity. Meanwhile, Nayan's old acquaintance Helen Fletcher returns to Chesterfied from London with her teenage son, Brandon, who was fired from his job as a cook at a private school after his remarks to a Black student were misunderstood as racist. Nayan hires Brandon to help take care of his father, who has dementia, and attempts to befriend Helen. Though she initially brushes him off, they eventually begin a romantic relationship. Sahota fascinates with his nuanced and multifaceted depictions of race and class, and he weaves in plenty of suspense as the union election unfolds. This is electrifying.
