Welcome to Kittur, an imaginary everytown nestling on the Indian coast south of Goa and north of Calicut. Journeying through its streets and schoolyards, bedrooms and businesses, its inner workings and outer limits, Aravind Adiga weaves a remarkable fictional tapestry of India in the 80s, the years after the assassination of Indira Gandhi and before that of her son Rajiv.

From a middle-aged Communist to an Islamic terrorist; from the young children of A Tamil building-site worker to a privileged and alienated schoolboy; from an idealistic journalist to a Brahmin housemaid, an entire Indian world comes vividly and unforgettably to life. Muslim, Christian and Hindu, high-caste and low-caste, rich and poor; all of the Indian life – the 'sorrowful parade of humanity' – is here.

Sizzling with acid observations and textured with wicked humour and gentle humanity, Between the Assassinations is a triumph of voice and imagination.

Available at the Infozone at the Queensland State Library