This semi-autobiographical novel recounts a fascinating adventure about criminality, individual freedom and the willingness to help. Partly inspired by real-life events of its author Gregory Roberts the text offers an insight in a world of poverty, social stratification, crime and drug abuse. Jailed for multiple accounts of robbery, the narrator escapes from his Australian prison and flees to India, where he ends up living in a slum of Mumbai. Against all odds, he begins to build a new life there: Among other things, he provides free healthcare to the people, works as an extra in Bollywood movies and even dives deep into Mumbai’s criminal underworld.

Novel · Australia · 2003