Western Lane

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2023. The International Bestseller.Longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2023.A beautiful and moving novel about grief, sisterhood, squash and a teenage girl's struggle to transcend herself.'With this gorgeous debut, Maroo blows most of the competition off the court.' – The TimesEleven-year-old Gopi has been playing squash since she was old enough to hold a racket. When her mother dies, her father enlists her in a quietly brutal training regimen, and the game becomes her world. Slowly, she grows apart from her sisters. Her life is reduced to the sport, guided by its rhythms: the serve, the volley, the drive, the shot and its echo.But on the court, she is not alone. She is with her pa. She is with Ged, a thirteen-year-old boy with his own formidable talent. She is with the players who have come before her. She is in awe.An unforgettable coming-of-age story, Chetna Maroo’s first novel is a moving exploration of the closeness of sisterhood, the immigrant experience, and the collective overcoming of grief.'WOW. Western Lane is glorious. You’ll want to read it over and over again.' – Aravind Adiga, author of The White Tiger'Stunning . . . Spare, tender, brilliantly achieved . . . A novel that unfolds in silences . . . and dares to leave much unsaid.' – The Guardian