Deepa Anappara: Djinn Patrol on the purple line,

Chatto & Windus, UK, 9781784743093, C format paperback

 

The quirky title of “Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line” led me to pick up this unusual debut novel by former journalist Deepa Anappara.  She has worked as a reporter in India before moving to England and in that capacity was confronted by facts of hundreds of children disappearing every day without any investigation by the Indian police every being launched.  Wondering what might have become of these children who mostly came from very poor backgrounds, she decided to write a novel telling their story through the eyes of endearing nine year old Jai whose voice gives this novel a special feeling.  

Her narration made me feel like reading a YA novel at 

times, particularly during the first few chapters but this feeling disappeared towards the middle of the book when the novel becomes more serious and darker. Jai and his friends Pari, a very smart girl, and Faiz, a Muslim boy live with their families in dirt poor circumstance in an Indian slum/basti. When two of their school friends disappear and not one missing report filed by their parents leads to a search by the police,  Jai, whose life dream is to become a detective, convinces his friends to start their own investigation. Very soon they find themselves in dangerous, dark circumstances before Jai's life in particular is affected dramatically. 

Deepa Anappara’s  decision of choosing a format by letting a nine year old boy narrate the story, her vivid description of the harsh life in an Indian slum and blending in the voices of those who are about to go missing,  makes this such a stand out, captivating debut novel. The last third of the book in particularly had me glued to my chair. Spoiler alarm: there is no Bollywood happy ending.