Shantaram: A Novel

About this book

The epic million-copy selling novel of a fugitives transformation in India It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make but the heart of it came to me in an instant while I was chained to a wall and being tortured. So begins this epic mesmerizing novel set in the underworld of contemporary Bombay. Shantaram is narrated by Lin an escaped convict with a false passport who flees a maximum-security prison in Australia for the teeming streets of a city where he can disappear. Accompanied by his guide and faithful friend Prabaker the two enter Bombays hidden society of beggars and gangsters prostitutes and holy men soldiers and actors and exiles seeking what they cannot find elsewhere. As a hunted man without a home family or identity Lin searches for love and meaning while running a clinic in one of the citys poorest slums and serving an apprenticeship in the dark arts of the Bombay mafia. His path leads him through war prison torture murder and bloody betrayals. The keys to Lins fate are held by two people: Khader Khan a mafia godfather and criminal-philosopher-saint and Karla an elusive dangerous beauty driven by tormenting secrets. Burning slums and five-star hotels romantic love and prison agonies criminal wars and Bollywood films spiritual gurus and mujaheddin guerrillasthis sweeping novel reaches across the entire spectrum of human experience. Based on the extraordinary life of the author Shantaram is a passionate unforgettable love letter to India.