Published in 2020
240 pages
Nikita Lalwani‘s work has been translated into sixteen languages. Her first novel, Gifted – the story of a child prodigy of Indian origin growing up in Wales – was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and won the inaugural Desmond Elliott Prize for Fiction. Her second, The Village, was modelled on a real-life ‘prison village’ in northern India, and won a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize. Her third novel You People, follows Tuli (the proprietor of an Italian restaurant) and his employee Shan who, having fled the Sri Lankan civil war, is desperate to find his family.
What is this book about?
“Intelligent and heart-piercing – an exceptional novel about the Britain we live in, even if we choose not to see it” — Kamila Shamsie, author of Home Fire
”Enthralling as a thriller, yet also a beautiful human drama, and a serious enquiry into the possibility of goodness” — Tessa Hadley
The Pizzeria Vesuvio looks like any other Italian restaurant in London – with a few small differences. The chefs who make the pizza fiorentinas are Sri Lankan, and half the kitchen staff are illegal immigrants.
At the centre is Tuli, the restaurant’s charismatic proprietor and resident Robin Hood, who promises to help anyone in need. Welsh nineteen-year-old Nia, haunted by her troubled past, is running from her family. Shan, having fled the Sri Lankan civil war, is desperate to find his.
But when Tuli’s guidance leads them all into dangerous territory, and the extent of his mysterious operation unravels, each is faced with an impossible moral choice.
In a world where the law is against you, how far would you be willing to lie for a chance to live?
