"Midnight's Children", by Salman Rushdie

Novel, 1981



Towering novel, charting the story of the main narrator, Saleem Sinai and the formation and early history of India and Pakistan following partition in 1948. This is a book which needs a level of immersion, although despite the narrative tricks and freewheeling scenes and relationships between characters, it's not overly smart or tricksy. So, a great balance in a tome which punches a huge emotional and political weight, while taking the reader on a life journey, both of the main character, the other 'children' of the title and the sub-continent. Richly rewarding.