Aravind Adiga has created a view of contemporary India through the lens of cricket, a much-loved sport. Soccer may be overtaking cricket in popularity, but Mohan Kumar wants his sons Radha and Manju to rise to the top in this very British sport. The boys have a coach called Tommy Sir and a sponsor, Anand Mehta. Adiga has once again created a picture of the striving that goes on with parents who push their children to achieve stardom, riches, and comfortable life. Only a very few can make it out of the villages or the Mumbai slums, and when a father sees a gift as Mohan does, he exploits it for all it is worth.

This novel has to work better for people who like and understand cricket. I enjoyed it for the lives of the boys and watching them grow and realize exactly what they wanted from the cards they were dealt in a life of poverty and fear.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Scribner.