Belonging
Umi Sinha
Category: Drama
From the darkest days of the British Raj to the aftermath of the First World War, Belonging tells the story of three generations struggling to understand and free themselves from a history steeped in colonial violence. Umi Sinha’s unforgettable debut is an intense, compelling and finely wrought epic of love and loss, race and ethnicity, homeland – and belonging.
Lila Langdon is twelve years old when she witnesses a family tragedy after her mother unveils her father’s surprise birthday present – a tragedy that ends her childhood in India and precipitates a new life in Sussex with her great-aunt Wilhelmina. Belonging is a novel of secrets that unwind through Lila’s story, her grandmother’s letters home from India and the diaries kept by her father, Henry, as he puzzles over the enigma of his birth and his stormy marriage to the mysterious Rebecca.
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“Captivating… Sinha is one of the best storytellers I’ve come across in a very long time.” (Kadija Sesay)
“An important novel, beautifully told, with arresting delicacy and sensitivity.” (Jacob Ross)
Shortlisted —Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award 2016
Shortlisted —Waverton Good Read Award 2017
Longlisted —Tata Literature Live! First Book Award 2016
Longlisted —Historical Writers’ Association Goldbsoro Debut Crown 2016
Top 12 Books of the Year —Pamreader 2015
