The Illicit Happiness of Other People: A Darkly Comic Novel Set in Modern India

Quite an achievement - The EconomistBoth wittily funny and darkly serious - Daily MailJoseph's prose is exquisitely phrased without an excess of sentimentality...the confident, immersing voice of ILLICIT HAPPINESS promises readers this is not the last we've heard of Manu Joseph - Daily TelegraphA refreshing read - Time OutThere's plenty to enjoy . . . the key revelations are powerful, as a final twist transforms the novel from an offbeat romp to a melancholy take on the age-old story of adolescent desire and its frustrations - MetroPraise for Serious Men:Manu Joseph's first novel elegantly describes collisions with an unyielding status quo, ably counterpointing the frustrations of the powerless with the unfulfilling realities of power. With this astute comedy of manners he makes a convincing bid for his own recognition as a novelist of serious talent, the latest addition to a roster of Indian writers who are creating fine literary art from their country's fearsome contradictions - Peter Carty, IndependentManu Joseph's satirical tale of an ostensibly new India still in thrall to its caste-ridden and sexist traditions is so much more than a mere comic caper . . . Sophisticated entertainment - Catherine Taylor, GuardianThe finest comic novelists know that a small world can illuminate a culture and an age...with this sad-funny debut Joseph does just that - Boyd Tonkin, Books to light up lazy days, Independent