R.F. Kuang’s—Babel*****

In Canton, a child’s family dies around him and Professor Lovell barges in and places a silver bar on the boy to revive him. Once the Chinese boy recovers, he travels by ship to the professor’s English estate where he is tutored for years in Greek and Latin. He substitutes his Chinese name for Robin and enters Oxford where he takes lectures in the Translation Department. There he meets three members of his cohort—Ramy (from Bengal), Victoria (originally from Haiti but brought up in France) and their only English student, Letty. They form a tight group in their first year, but changes occur when first Robin meets his half-brother in hiding, Griffin whose totally different perspective on the Translation Department’s objectives begin to set Robin on a different course.

This is a tale that on the surface appears to be part fantasy, but the underlying themes of racial prejudice, sexism, and British colonial greed ring true and lead these students on a dangerous journey.

Magha Majumdar’s—A Burning*****

Set in India, this novel centres around three main characters—Jivan, a Muslim girl from the slums, Lovely, a girl whom Jivan is teaching English, and PT Sir a gym instructor at the school Jivan attends. When Jivan comments on Facebook and innocently befriends a known terrorist, she is implicated in the bombing of a train that kills around one hundred passengers.

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Shrabani Basu’s — Spy Princess *****

This is the biography of Noor Inayat Khan who was born in Russia but by the age of six went to London, then moved to France with her parents and siblings. She is brought up within the Sufi faith, but when WW11 breaks out, the family flee to London. Noor is determined to assist in the war effort. She joins the WAAF until she is recruited by the SOE and sent to Paris to keep London informed and receive important information regarding such events as new spies being flown into France from England.

Her biography not only reveals her dedication and the extensive work she conducted in Paris with the Resistance Movement and her ability to avoid the GESTAPO, but also details the extensive training that all agents were subjected to before they were sent into enemy territory.

Jamila Ahmed’s—Every Rising Sun

Shaherazade and the Arabian Nights tales are familiar to everyone, but what about the life of Shaherazade? This is a fascinating read that begins in Persia when Shaherazade discovers that the Malik’s wife is unfaithful. The Malik is so distraught once he learns of his wife’s infidelity, he loses all reason once his wife is beheaded that Shaherazade’s father, the vizier cannot help him. A second wife, a third wife, and yet another cannot save him from despair, but can Shaherazade with her magical tales save him from the brink of disaster?

Set during the Crusades when Suladin is fighting against the infidels in Palestine, the novel mixes historical events with fiction to create a gripping tale.