I started this book so many times when I was younger and abandoned it largely because I found the prose such heavy going. Returning to it one last time – as an audiobook on this occasion – was a real joy. The narrator, Sam Dastor, really made it happen for me and is a real master when it comes to accents and different voices for different characters. It also helps that, now I have travelled to India so many times and lived there for a spell, I have much greater empathy for the story knowing more about the different places and cultures in India (and what is now Pakistan).