The Circle of Reason – Amitav Ghosh

Started during our ten days at Corrie Craggie this May, The Circle of Reason was completed in back in London. The narrator, Alu, has a more epic journey. Having grown from orphaned boy to master weaver in rural Bengal, the death of his eccentric adopted father, and the jealousy of a local petty politician, convince the police that he’s a terrorist. As bird-watching police inspector Jyoti Das closes in on Alu’s hide out in southern India, Alu ‘escapes’ across the Indian Ocean to a nameless (but Qatari-like) Emirate on the Arabian peninsula, where we are shown the lives of the illegal, indentured workers who build the skyscrapers and cook and clean for ex pat and local families alike.

Author’s page: The Circle of Reason – Amitav Ghosh