Someone else's garden - Dipika Rai

A big, intensely involving and evocative Indian novel, perfect for fans of Vikas Swarup's Slumdog Millioniare, with its emotive and, ultimately, redemptive story.

Mamta is one of seven children and learns early on in her childhood what it means to be born female in rural India. Married to a savagely unkind and brutal husband, she flees to the city to try and make a new life for herself. Sharing her story are her mother, Lata Bai, the saintly Lokend, her ever-loving brother Prem, a soul-searching bandit and a brutal landlord. This is a redemptive story, despite the often unforgiving setting, and one that is difficult to put down.