First published 2008
Balram sits down to write a series of letters to the Chinese Prime Minister, anticipating his official visit to India. What unfolds is the confession of a murderer. This young entrepreneur and former driver from Bangalore has killed his employer, and now he wants to tell his story. Through his correspondence, Balram traces his transformation from an honest, hardworking boy trapped in extreme poverty to a ruthless businessman with blood on his hands. He explains how social forces pushed him toward violence, how desperation drove him to take his boss's life. The letters reveal a man grappling with what he has become, using dark humor to navigate the brutal realities of modern India's class divide. Balram's voice carries the weight of someone who crossed a line he can never uncross, yet refuses to apologize for his survival.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, crime, 21st-century
Vibes: dark, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: confession, grappling-with-morality, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Bangalore, China, India
Period: 21st-century
250 pages · Paperback · Amsterdam Llibres
Content warnings: murder, violence