The story of the plight of Indian (mostly illegal) immigrants to the UK. Very well written. Great story telling of sad and horrible circumstances that drive people to search for work far from home, and the suffering they endure doing the work no one else wants to do in a 'civilized' land. Well worth the read. ( )

Hard story but a good one. ( )

This book tells about young people trying to make their way in a world determined to value them based on their caste.

You know how Latinos come to the U.S. thinking they will make a better life for their family, only to find that society is dead-set against them? Well, Indians go to England, hoping to make a better life, only to fight the same thing.

This book is heartbreaking and beautiful; for all you readers out there who stubbornly stuck to what they believed in, even if it meant you would never be successful in the conforming world, this book is for you. ( )

The Year of the Runaways is one of my ventures beyond my usual genres, prompted mainly by its being shortlisted for the Man Booker. It is the heartbreaking story about the plight of poor young Indian men who immigrate to England with dreams of finding, illegally, work that will pay enough to free themselves and their families from the clutches of poverty.

Here, Randeep, Avtar and Tochi find themselves together in their struggle to find sustainable work and escape their circumstances, the immigration authorities and most importantly, hunger. Narinder Kaur, a daughter of Sikh immigrants, gets involved in the trio's life out of her desire to do good. The novel chronicles the circumstances that led these people to where they are, and their fight against the adversities of loan sharks, greedy employers and the ever present threat of detection and deportation. There are also some good things, little acts of kindness from unexpected quarters, that help these people survive.

The characterisation is solid, and the author's descriptions of the illegal immigrant life are realistic. The entire plot is depressing, as there is no real happy ending to the struggles of the characters. However, maybe in an effort to make up for the overdose of sadness, the author has put in an epilogue ten years later, which provides inadequately little solace.

Though the story is quite absorbing, and the happenings are realistic, the sense of despondency and incompleteness the novel evokes makes it a three-star read. ( )

I thought this was well done. It's pretty matter-of-fact about its subject matter, and it introduced me to a dilemma I suppose I might have imagined existed but that I hadn't ever imagined in these particulars. The dilemma itself is horrible (the book has been compared to The Grapes of Wrath but I think there may be a touch of The Jungle at play here too), and it's dramatized with a sort of grace and with bits and pieces of humor -- which isn't to say that it trivializes the subject matter but more that it avoids becoming maudlin. It's a good companion book for Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue; Sahota's is the smoother and I think the more effective treatment of the topic. ( )