The Assassin's Song - M.G. Vassanji

This book was well worthy of it's nomination for the Giller Prize, and it's subsequent short-listing. It would have been worthy of the prize had it won.

A stunning novel about living with the pressures that come from religious, cultural, political, traditional and familial sources, and the difficulties in amalgamating these pressures with our own wants and desires, and how in our youth, it is often difficult to define our wants and desires.

This story is set during turbulent times in India, and follows a young boy named Karsan, from his earliest days with his parents and brother, living at a shrine. He is next in line to succeed his father as Guru and caretaker of the shrine. Though is father tries to keep him in the traditional ways, he soon rebels and seeks his own life in America. But soon Karsan finds it is not always so easy to escape your past.

The book ends with a subtle but delicious twist at the end. A fine work by Vassanji.