Bhattacharya wins India’s biggest literary prize
The Sly Company of People Who Care by Rahul Bhattacharya has won the ‘Hindu Literary Prize for Best Fiction 2011’, the biggest literary prize in India.
Bhattacharya was presented the prize by Shashi Tharoor, the Delhi-based author, writer and MP, who said it was important to support the efforts of the Hindu to celebrate good writing in English in fiction.
Bhattacharya’s debut novel was also longlisted for the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize, alongside Haruki Murakami, Amitav Ghosh and Tahmima Anam.
Pan Macmillan is delighted with this spectacular achievement for the young debut novelist, confirming that this extraordinarily rich book deserved all the praise it received on publication:
‘His narrator has a charming, confident voice that engages instantly, and his descriptions of landscapes and people are ravishing . . . This ferociously gifted writer has already been hailed as the natural successor to the great Naipaul — and yes, he is that good.’ The Times
‘He is clever, insightful and funny. With a style resonant of some of the best Asian writing by giants such as Naipaul and Rushdie . . . If you can keep up, this debut novel has powerful charm.’ Daily Mail
‘It is beautifully written and brims with charm . . . Definitely a book to be savoured lying in a shady hammock, with a bottle of rum and cricket on the radio.’ Financial Times
The Sly Company of People Who Care is currently available in trade paperback; the mass-market edition will be published by Pan Macmillan in March 2012.