The Endgame

Questions of power, conscience and where a person draws the line run through The Endgame, a novel by Kunal Basu. Basu sets his characters in a climate of political pressure and social unrest, where the truth is contested and the right choice is rarely the safe one. The writing is character-driven and unhurried, giving space to motive and self-justification rather than resolving matters neatly. Readers who follow literary fiction with a political edge will recognise Basu's habit of letting moral questions stay open, and that restraint is what gives the book its weight after the last page. Points that stand out: • Literary fiction with a political frame rather than a thriller structure • Focuses on identity, authority and personal responsibility • Written by the author of several acclaimed works of Indian English fiction • Published under the Picador imprint of Pan MacMillan Recommended for readers of serious contemporary fiction and South Asian writing, available at Boipoka.