''Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line'' is a novel by Deepa Anappara, published in 2020. Her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to ...

, it received wide praise and won the Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize in 2019. ''Djinn Patrol'' is shortlisted for the 2020

JCB Prize JCB Prize for Literature is an Indian literary award established in 2018. It is awarded annually with prize to a distinguished work of fiction by an Indian writer working in English or translated fiction by an Indian writer. The winners will be an ...

and was longlisted for the 2020

Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

. The novel won the 2021 Edgar Award for Best Novel.

Book

''Djinn Patrol'' depicts a young child who attempts to investigate a mystery involving the disappearance of children from an impoverished slum. It tells of children living in a slum in a fictional Indian city who set out to find a classmate who has disappeared. A reviewer for ''Kirkus'' compared the setting to that of Katherine Boo's ''

Behind the Beautiful Forevers ''Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity'' is a non-fiction book written by the Pulitzer Prize-winner Katherine Boo in 2012. It won the National Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize among many others ...

''. Anappara's novel makes use of several genres, including

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as spec ...

, mystery,

satire Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

, and

Bildungsroman In literary criticism, a ''Bildungsroman'' (, plural ''Bildungsromane'', ) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood ( coming of age), in which character change is imp ...

. A review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' noted that ''Djinn Patrol'' "announces the arrival of a literary supernova".

Author

Anappara spent her early life in

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. She is an Indian writer and journalist. Anappara worked as a journalist in India, reporting on social issues in the state of Gujarat, and in Delhi and Mumbai. Her work has focused on studying the effects of violence and poverty, particularly on young people. Anappara wrote the novel while pursuing a master's degree in creative writing at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

. ''Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line'' was originally written as part of her dissertation for her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...

degree. The manuscript and publication rights were sold at the

Frankfurt Book Fair The Frankfurt Book Fair (German: Frankfurter Buchmesse, FBM) is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. It is considered to be the most important book fair in the world for internationa ...

, and the novel was the subject of a "hard-fought auction" between multiple publishers, ultimately being sold to

Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his busines ...

and

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Ger ...

. Her work has won several awards for journalism, including the Developing Asia Journalism Awards, the "Every Human has Rights" Media Awards, as well as the Sanskriti-Prabha Dutt Fellowship in Journalism. ''Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line'' was shortlisted for the

JCB Prize for Literature JCB Prize for Literature is an Indian literary award established in 2018. It is awarded annually with prize to a distinguished work of fiction by an Indian writer working in English or translated fiction by an Indian writer. The winners will be an ...

in 2020. Anappara is currently working towards a doctorate in historical fiction at the University of East Anglia.

Awards and recognition

Some awards and recognition received by Anappara include: * 2006: Developing Asia Journalism Award * 2013: Second place in the Bristol Short Story Prize, for her story, 'The Breakdown' * 2013: Asham Awards for Short Stories * 2015: Dastaan Award for Short Stories, for her story, 'After a Hijacking' * 2017: Bridport Peggy Chapman Andrews First Novel Award for ''Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line'' * 2018: Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize for ''Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line'' * 2018: Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award for ''Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line'' * 2020: JCB Prize for Literature shortlist: ''Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line'' * 2021: Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line 2020 debut novels Bildungsromans Chatto & Windus books Indian English-language novels Novels set in India