The Living

Anjali Joseph

Anjali Joseph’s third novel follows two protagonists: Claire, a young single mother working in one of England’s last surviving shoe factories, and Arun, an elderly Indian man who makes chappals by hand in a village in Maharashtra. The lives of this unlikely pair, while not intertwined by plot elements, are connected through common themes such as work, joy, family and tedium—as Claire struggles to overcome the trauma of a teenage relationship and Arun tries to come to terms with ageing.

Fourth Estate, 240 pages, Rs 399