'Extremely ambitious'Financial Times

'An imaginative tour de force ... She really is a genius'Guardian

'A delight'New Statesman

FROM THE MAN BOOKER-SHORTLISTED AUTHOR NICOLA BARKER

To the world he is Sri Ramakrishna - godly avatar, esteemed spiritual master, beloved guru. To temple owner, Rani Rashmoni, he is the Brahmin fated to defy tradition. But to Hriday, his nephew and long-time caretaker, he is just Uncle - maddening, bewildering Uncle, prone to entering trances at the most inconvenient of times, known to perform dangerous acts of self-effacement, who must be vigilantly safeguarded not only against jealous enemies but also against that most treasured yet insidious of sulphur-rich vegetables: the cauliflower.

Nicola Barker was born in Ely in 1966 and spent part of her childhood in South Africa. She is the author of twelve novels includingWide Open,Darkmans,The YipsandIn the Approaches and two short story collections. She has been twice longlisted and once shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, has won the IMPAC, the John Llewellyn Rhys and the Hawthornden Prizes, and was named one ofGrantas 20 Best Young British Writers in 2003. Her latest novel,H(A)PPY, won the 2017 Goldsmiths Prize and was longlisted for the Womens Prize for Fiction 2018.