The Inheritance of Loss
20th Anniversary Edition
Published on 16. April 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
336 pages
978-1-4059-8542-0 (ISBN)
Description
A BEAUTIFUL TWENTIETH-ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THE BOOKER PRIZE WINNING MASTERPIECE
'A magnificent novel of humane breadth and wisdom, comic tenderness and political acuteness' Hermione Lee, chair of the Booker Prize judges
High in the Himalayas sits a dilapidated mansion, home to three people, each dreaming of another time.
The judge, broken by a world too messy for justice, is haunted by his past. His orphaned granddaughter has fallen in love with her handsome tutor, despite their different backgrounds and ideals. The cook's heart is with his son, who is working in a New York restaurant, mingling with an underclass from all over the globe as he seeks somewhere to call home.
Around the house swirl the forces of revolution and change. Civil unrest is making itself felt, stirring up inner conflicts as powerful as those dividing the community, pitting the past against the present, nationalism against love, a small place against the troubles of a big world.
'Poised, elegant and assured . . . breaks out into extraordinary beauty' The Times
'Affecting and endearing, full of laughter and tears' Boyd Tonkin, Independent
'Briskly paced and sumptuously written . . . ponders questions of nationhood, modernity, and class, in ways both moving and revelatory' New Yorker
'A magnificent novel of humane breadth and wisdom, comic tenderness and political acuteness' Hermione Lee, chair of the Booker Prize judges
High in the Himalayas sits a dilapidated mansion, home to three people, each dreaming of another time.
The judge, broken by a world too messy for justice, is haunted by his past. His orphaned granddaughter has fallen in love with her handsome tutor, despite their different backgrounds and ideals. The cook's heart is with his son, who is working in a New York restaurant, mingling with an underclass from all over the globe as he seeks somewhere to call home.
Around the house swirl the forces of revolution and change. Civil unrest is making itself felt, stirring up inner conflicts as powerful as those dividing the community, pitting the past against the present, nationalism against love, a small place against the troubles of a big world.
'Poised, elegant and assured . . . breaks out into extraordinary beauty' The Times
'Affecting and endearing, full of laughter and tears' Boyd Tonkin, Independent
'Briskly paced and sumptuously written . . . ponders questions of nationhood, modernity, and class, in ways both moving and revelatory' New Yorker
Reviews / Votes
Marvellous . . . Kiran Desai romanticises neither home nor elsewhere . . . Heeds not only the brave new world, but also the country left behind -- Lionel Shriver * Financial Times * Affecting and endearing, full of laughter and tears * Independent * Seldom has an author offered so fearless a glimpse into how ordinary lives are caught up in the collision of modernity and cultural tradition, and in the schisms and fanaticism that all too often ensue * Elle *More details
Edition
Special edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Edition type
Special edition
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 132 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
240 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4059-8542-0 (9781405985420)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
08/2008
1st Edition
Penguin Books Ltd
€8.99
Available for download
Previous edition
Person
Kiran Desai is the bestselling author of two novels, Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard and The Inheritance of Loss, which won both the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.