The In-between World Of Vikram Lall

"Tautly written . . . The book admirably captures the tenor of the postcolonial period: the predicament of the Asian minority, the corruption that marred Kenya's fledgling independence, and the individual tragedies that were the cost of the revolution."
-The New Yorker

"Vassanji has a clear sense of how cruelly individuals get battered when the taking of sides is required. In an ever-more-polarized world, his insights about the "in-between" condition become more compelling by the moment."
-Seattle Times

"Brilliantly written and deeply felt, it is a resonant family novel that is also a brutally honest portrayal of the last half century of tumultuous Kenyan history . . . Vassanji displays his great gifts; this beautiful novel, which unfolds with intimacy and an inexorable sense of destiny, is proof that fictional truth can illuminate an epoch in history like nothing else."
-Boston Globe

"A political panorama understood as a landscape of the heart. Love and loss are what endure for Vikram Lall, and Vassanji explores them with all the tact of a true literary power. Gorgeous and heart-rending glimpses of Africa permeate the book . . . the author leaves us, as all fine writers do, with the shred of hope held out by their own wise and forgiving narrative."
-Chicago Tribune

"Vassanji, who was the 2003 winner of Canada's Giller Prize, explores a conflict of epic proportions from the perspective of a man trapped in "the perilous in-between," writing with a deftness and evenhandedness that distinguish him as a diligent student of political and historical complexities and a riveting storyteller."
-Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Born and raised in East Africa, Vassanji describes in spare but resonant prose the depressing realities of post-colonial Africa in telling the story of a man whose life is blighted by the times . . . A bleak but affecting portrait of loss by a master writer come fully into his own."
-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Vikram is appealing, despite the supple manipulations of power and his outright thievery. He sees the world with a piercing clarity, and Vassanji's language has that same clarity and an additional grandeur, almost as if the sentences themselves could mimic the extraordinary African landscape. This is a novel of elegant gesture, complex understanding, bright passion, and historical pain."
-O: The Oprah Magazine

"Finely drawn . . . an ambitious and enthralling work."
-The Times Literary Supplement

"The In-Between World is a good example of how the post-colonial novel should be written . . . This is the work of a writer at the top of his form."
-The Guardian

"It is part of Vassanji's great talent to demonstrate that the minor changes-unexpected love, sex, accusations-in the life of a very modest man are, in fact, transformations of history."-The Globe and Mail

"This novel is one of the most satisfying you will come across in a season that is quickly shaping up to be stellar. Apart from the sheer enjoyment of the story is its subtle, deliberate relevance . . . What Vassanji does wonderfully well, with zero hectoring and unsettling calm, is describe the race-relations in post-colonial, multi-cultural societies . . . The best thing in this glorious book is its textured braid of Indian and African cultures. It's the reason this novel is both a gripping story and an enduring historical document."
-National Post

"With The In-Between World of Vikram Lall, Vassanji lives up to his lofty reputation. The book's epic spread is both impressive and poetic, a good read that will leave most readers not only satisfied but eager to pursue the novel's historical perplexities . . . It is a remarkable, readable, mind-numbing tale, full of intriguing African lore."
-London Free Press

"Wonderful . . . a powerful and compelling novel."
-Edmonton Journal