Changes

The publisher's blurb might lead you to think that we are in for tales of brilliant cons and grifting in the manner of, say, TV's ''Hustle''. However, these are kept largely as mysterious to the reader as they are to those in Maqil's life. Indeed, for much of the book, Maqil flits along in the way that he does with life in general, until he is faced with his own mortality and begins to assess his actions more deeply. This comes to him rather late on as three heart attacks are not enough to encourage him to take stock earlier on in the narrative.

There is no doubt however that there are some superb passages to the book. It's a book that I wished was either longer of shorter - either to give more depth to the early life and adventures or to gloss over them more quickly. The London years are by far the strongest, perhaps because this was closest to Maqil's true self, but perhaps also because Samira and the twins are such wonderful characters that I couldn't imagine leaving them. Then again Maqil is a compulsive gambler in life. Roopa Farooki explains that the story is partly inspired by her own father and so perhaps this explains why the abandoned children are so movingly dealt with.