{"product_id":"western-lane-1","title":"Western Lane, Chetna Maroo","description":"\u003cp\u003eShortlisted for the Booker Prize 2023\u003cbr\u003eLonglisted for the Women''s Prize for Fiction 2024\u003cbr\u003eLonglisted for the William Hill Award 2023\u003cbr\u003eA BBC Arts \u0026amp; The Reading Agency''s Big Sporting Read selection\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSelected by Dua Lipa as one of Service95''s ''Books of the Year''\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e''A beautiful and evocative novel about grief, about growing up, about losing and winning. The people and places in this book will stay with me for a long time.'' – Sally Rooney, author of Normal People\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA deeply moving novel about grief, sisterhood and a teenage girl''s struggle to transcend herself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEleven-year-old Gopi has been playing squash since she was old enough to hold a racket. When her mother dies, her father enlists her in a quietly brutal training regimen, and the game becomes her world. Slowly, she grows apart from her sisters. Her life is reduced to the sport, guided by its rhythms: the serve, the volley, the drive, the shot and its echo.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut on the court, she is not alone. She is with her pa. She is with Ged, a thirteen-year-old boy with his own formidable talent. She is with the players who have come before her. She is in awe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn unforgettable coming-of-age story, Chetna Maroo’s Western Lane is an exploration of the closeness of sisterhood, the immigrant experience, and the collective overcoming of grief.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA ''Book of the Year'' in The Economist, The Independent, The Week, The New York Times and The Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e''With this gorgeous debut, Maroo blows most of the competition off the court.'' – The Times\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e''Stunning . . . Spare, tender, brilliantly achieved . . . A novel that unfolds in silences . . . and dares to leave much unsaid.'' – The Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"gentle books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44448278806665,"sku":"9781529094626","price":80.0,"currency_code":"HKD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0598\/9289\/1785\/files\/9781529094626_62795c18-a00e-4041-9a95-f1c1fbbe2250.jpg?v=1753693243","url":"https:\/\/thisisgentle.com\/products\/western-lane-1","provider":"gentle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}