Set in mid-1970s India, A Fine Balance is a subtle and compelling narrative about four unlikely characters who come together in circumstances no one could have foreseen soon after the government declares a 'State of Internal Emergency'. It is a breathtaking achievement: panoramic yet humane, intensely political yet rich with local delight;
Feminist philosopher Sinead Murphy was appalled to discover the advice given by the million-copy selling dating book The Rules (Grand Central, 2001), which teaches women about 'capturing the heart of Mr Right'. Instead, she suggests that the novels of Jane Austen, with their precise and eloquent prose, ...