THE SALTIRE'S NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
A GUARDIAN'S BEST MEMOIR AND BIOGRAPHY OF 2022

'Remarkable' The Times
'Achingly beautiful' Guardian
Beautiful in unusual and wonderful ways' Rebecca Solnit

This book is about two unlikely friends. One born in 1970s Britain to Indian immigrant parents, the other arrived from Nazi Germany in 1939, fleeing persecution.

This is a story of migration, racism, family, belonging, grief and resilience. It is about the state we're in now and the ways in which we carry our pasts into our futures.

About the Author

Chitra Ramaswamy is an award-winning journalist and author. Her first book, Expecting: The Inner Life of Pregnancy, won the Saltire First Book of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Polari Prize. She has contributed essays to Antlers of Water, Nasty Women, The Freedom Papers, The Bi-ble and Message from the Skies. She is a TV critic for the Guardian, the restaurant critic for The Times Scotland, a columnist for the National Trust for Scotland and broadcasts regularly for BBC Radio Scotland. She lives in Edinburgh with her partner, two young children and rescue dog.

@Chitgrrl

Reviews
Homelands is beautiful in unusual and wonderful ways, beyond the grace and magic when its prose rises almost to poetry. It is an extravagant exploration of the imaginative possibilities of empathy, of how a friendship can build a bridge across differences in origins and age, how you can enter into another life, why you should, what happens when you do -- REBECCA SOLNIT
Remarkable * * The Times * *
A fabulous piece of work -- CAL FLYN
Achingly beautiful * * Guardian * *
A spellbinding story of triumph and tragedy, war and sanctuary, emigration and belonging. Fans of Sebald and De Waal are going to love this -- GAVIN FRANCIS
An eloquent testament to the tribulations of national belonging * * New Statesman * *
A deeply reflective and moving account of a remarkable friendship that bridges a century. Homelands is at once meditative and urgent, humane and journalistic. I learned so much in these pages, and yet couldn't stop smiling at the simple strokes: the love, the kindness, the unlikely places friendship blooms -- DINA NAYERI
Vivid storytelling . . . Ramaswamy reflects with dreamlike clarity on memory and transience * * Observer * *
An astonishing read. It brings all the verve, drama and detail of fiction writing and the solid thinking and reflection of the best non-fiction. What an achievement -- PRIYAMVADA GOPAL
It is Henry's life story which is the gripping heart of the matter . . . immersive * * Scotsman * *


Awards
Winner of Saltire Society Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2022 (UK).



Book Information
ISBN 9781838852696
Author Chitra Ramaswamy
Format Paperback
Page Count 368
Imprint Canongate Books
Publisher Canongate Books
Weight(grams) 246g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 22mm