THE PRIZEWINNING MODERN MASTERPIECE BY THE AUTHOR OF PEREIRA MAINTAINS

'A lot of people lose their way in India . . . it's a country specially made for that.'

Amid the backstreets, brothels and faded hotels of Bombay, Madras and the old Portuguese port of Goa, a man searches for his lost friend. Xavier has been missing for a year, and the only clues to his disappearance lie with an overworked doctor, a young prostitute and the leader of a strange religious order.

Dreamlike, elusive and profoundly disquieting, Indian Nocturne calls into question the very nature of identity.

Pereira Maintains is small only in size. Its themes are great ones - courage, betrayal, fidelity, love, corruption; and its treatment of them is subtle, skilful, and clear. It's so clear, in fact, that you can see a very long way down, into the heart of a flawed but valiant human being, into the sickness of a nation, into the depths of political evil. It's the most impressive novel I've read for years, and one of the very few that feels truly necessary