THE BUREAU OF SECOND CHANCES

Book ID/图书代码： 01834017C00001

English Summary/英文概要： Is going back the only way to start again?

After more than thirty years in London, recently-widowed Thomas Imbalil returns to India. He spends his first months in uncluttered isolation in his house overlooking the Arabian Sea, in a small fishing village in Kerala. But when he agrees to look after his friend’s business, Chacko’s Optical Store, he meets and befriends Rani, the young assistant. Before long he discovers that Rani is using the store to run an intriguing side-business.

He agrees to turn a blind eye to her operations until his friend returns, but this discovery makes him restless, and reminds him of the loneliness he is feeling and which lies ahead of him. Rani also reveals herself as a much more complex individual than he had first imagined, and while he had envisaged a quiet re-acquaintance with his homeland, Thomas finds himself becoming more and more entangled with the lives of those around him.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 回去是重新开始的唯一方法吗？

在伦敦待了30多年后，刚刚失去妻子的Thomas Imbalil回到了印度。第一个月，在喀拉拉邦一个小渔村里，他独自待在整洁的房子里俯瞰阿拉伯海。但当他同意去照看他朋友的业务——Chacko的眼镜店后，他和店里的年轻助手Rani成了朋友。不久他发现Rani在利用商店开展一项诱人的副业。

他同意在朋友回来之前对她的业务视而不见。但这一发现使他焦躁不安，使他想起他所感受到的孤独和他即将面对的孤独。他还发现Rani比他想象中更复杂。虽然他曾设想以一种平静的方式重新认识自己的家乡，但很快发现自己与周围人的关系正在变得越来越复杂。（LYR）

Awards/获奖情况：“有很多的光线，有一些让你微笑的段落，但也有黑暗的部分，涉及到印度的种姓和社会期望，以及对婚姻、疾病和养育子女的思考……我在座位上飞快地读完了本书的最后三分之一，迫切地想要知道结果如何——The Bookbag，五星

“苦乐参半又令人振奋的基调使令我读来欲罢不能……作者文笔优美，生动刻画了书中的人物，并讲述了一个回环曲折的故事”——Scotland on Sunday

’There is plenty of light, with passages that will make you smile, but it has its share of darkness, touching on caste and social expectations in India, as well as reflections on marriage, illness and parenting ... I raced through the last third of the book on the edge of my seat, desperate to know how it turned out’ --The Bookbag, FIVE STARS

’A bittersweet, uplifting tone makes it impossible to put down … Kalayil writes beautifully, painting colourful portraits of her characters and managing her story’s unexpected twists with aplomb’ --Scotland on Sunday

Winner of the Writer’s Guild Best First Novel Award 2018

About the Author/作者介绍：

Sheena Kalayil was born in Zambia in 1970 where her parents were teachers seconded from Kerala, India. She arrived in the UK aged eighteen and, after graduating, worked all over the world. She now teaches at the University of Manchester and is currently completing a doctorate in Linguistics. She lives near Manchester with her husband and two daughters.

Format:HARDCOVER

Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE

Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE

Sales in other countries/其他国家销售情况：

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