EM Forster wrote A Passage to India over many years, interrupted by WWI where he spent some time working in Alexandria. It was sparked by his Oxford friendship and unrequited love with an Indian student, Masood, who invited him to India. In India, men have close friendships, even now, where they are seen canoodling and holding hands in the streets. It is easy to see how in the repressive atmosphere of England in the Edwardian era, this closeness could have been both craved and misconstrued by EM Forster. Galgut has written a tender portrayal of Morgan Forster’s thwarted yearnings for love and companionship, where being an outsider in Egypt and India mirrors his alienation of self.