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The Year of the Runaways

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The Year of the Runaways

By: Sunjeev Sahota
Narrated by: Sartaj Garewal
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About this listen

The Year of the Runaways tells of the bold dreams and daily struggles of an unlikely family thrown together by circumstance. Thirteen young men live in a house in Sheffield, each in flight from India and in search of a new life.

Avtar has a secret that binds him to protect the choatic Randeep. Randeep has a visa wife in a flat on the other side of town. And Tarlochan, a former rickshaw driver, will say nothing about his past in Bihar.

©2015 Sunjeev Sahota (P)2015 W F Howes Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Urban Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

"All you can do is surrender, happily, to its power." (Salman Rushdie)
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This lengthy audiobook really makes you think about those desperate illegal 'runaways', exploited by loan sharks and escaping from the country of their birth to find a better life in England. That sounds like a polemical novel, but it's not that, it's a deeply compassionate, coruscating story of three young Indian men - Tochi, Randeep and Avtar - who are willing to suffer hideous hardship, intense loneliness and exploitation in order to work, work, work for a better life and support their families back 'home'.

These three men live in a squalid house in Sheffield with nine other Indian migrants, and the first part of the audiobook fills out their back stories in India. The details are filmic and vivid, and the characters burst out, helped by Sartaj Garewal's fluent narration and capture of accents. Tochi, an Untouchable in Bihar, finally manages to hire a rickshaw and scrapes a living as its driver to support his family after his father loses both arms in an accident. That is until atrocious massacres engulf his family and he is left with nothing. Randeep works nights in a bleak call centre and married troubled, British-born Narinder previously unknown to him in order to get into Britain. Avtar is told to 'follow the others' away from 'this benighted country' if he is to stand a chance of a better life - and sells one of his kidneys to help pay the loan sharks to finance his journey.

In England, their lives are grindingly harsh. They struggle to find work which will pay them a fraction of the minimum wage on hazardous construction sites, in factories and fast food outlets. They must earn enough to feed themselves - badly - and send money home to support their families and pay off the loan sharks. When Avtar is crippled with pain from complications following his kidney removal, he's too terrified to go to the doctor: discovery and police raids are a constant fear. But despite the undeniable misery of these men's lives, there is tremendous energy and vitality. It raises huge issues - made the more pertinent considering the vast numbers of refugees and migrants who have poured into Europe since this book was published in the summer - but never preaches or polemicizes. The message is in all the searing details.

Listen to it - your eyes will be opened and won't shut again.

The daily fight for a better life

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I have travelled to India & loved it. I am a Londoner & have know friends & colleagues from the Indian community all my life. It was very informative to see how illegal workers survive in the U.K, very sad their standard of living is so low, their diet horrendous. I would highly recommend this book.

Excellent

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I found the story a little hard to follow at first, but I was soon invested in all the characters and their lives. I'd recommend this to anyone that enjoyed Hosseini’s books.

Loved it

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Would you listen to The Year of the Runaways again? Why?

Yes. Epic stories are always worth a few more listens/reads. Plus, I listen while I travel, cook, garden or do housework and sometimes might miss the key aspect of a particular scene.

What did you like best about this story?

Everything. It is a believable story. I grew up in the Midlands in a city with a diverse Indian community. I had Indian friends at school and have worked with Indians of different castes and the Indian culture has always fascinated me. So much so that as a child I enjoyed watching Indian films and series (if subtitled).

Which scene did you most enjoy?

I am interested in the plight of Untouchables and so was interested in the experiences of Tochi.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

This novel is full of moving moments. It was educative and immersive. As one who listens to talk radio and is saturated with anti-immigrant talk, I was reminded that illegal immigrants are human and do not risk life and limb and dehumanisation to access benefits.

Any additional comments?

Since listening to the book, I read Sunjeev Sahota's interview in The Guardian (12th December 2015). What a wonderful and empathic human being. A son any mother would be proud of.

Deserving of its Booker nomination

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This book shines a light on areas of life I'd guess the average person won't have encountered. The writing is beautiful and tight, the characters empathetic and the subplots were breathtaking. The Booker Shortlist nomination is unsurprising. An absorbing book, which has caused me to reflect on many aspects of life.

Brilliant

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an eye opener of a story following 3 Indian men coming to England to find their fortune. and the woman who made it possible. Heartbreaking yet enlightening... unputdownable.

absolutely wonderful

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the type of book that makes you uncomfortable about the comforts in your own life. great for soul searching

great book to listen to

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What a beautiful story xxxxx the interwoven lives of the characters pulls at your heart strings.

Engaging!!!

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An eye opener into the world of the Indian immigrant in the UK. I thought the characters were well rounded and there was humour despite the bareness of their lives. I feel educated as well as entertained by this book and Sartaj Garwal's narration is brilliant - his ability with accents delineates the characters clearly.

A life in England most of us know little of

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This book has affected me deeply. It should be compulsory reading for all those who judge immigrants legal or otherwise.
So well written and beautifully narrated. Thank you.

Gosh

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