''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 pu ...

, 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 2009–2012), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017) is one of the United Kingdom's ...

. The novel won the 2021

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

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''. 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 criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...

, mystery,

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

, and

Bildungsroman In literary criticism, a bildungsroman () is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth and change of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age). The term comes from the German words ('formation' or 'edu ...

. A review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

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

Author

Anappara spent her early life in

Palakkad Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. 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 university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

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

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) 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. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree. The manuscript and publication rights were sold at the

Frankfurt Book Fair The Frankfurt Book Fair (German: , FBM) is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. The five-day annual event in mid-October is held at the Frankfurt Trade Fair grounds in Frankfurt am ...

, 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 imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

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

Reception

According to

Book Marks ''Literary Hub'' or ''LitHub'' is a daily literary website that was launched in 2015 by Grove Atlantic president and publisher Morgan Entrekin, American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame editor Terry McDonell, and '' Electric Literatur ...

, the book received a "rave" consensus, based on fourteen critics: ten "rave", three "positive", and one "mixed". In Books in the Media, the book was scored 4.13 out of 5 stars, from eight critic reviews. In the May/June 2020 issue of '' Bookmarks'', the book was scored four out of five stars. The magazine's critical summary reads: "Anappara achieves the (seemingly) impossible here: she has written a sweet, funny novel narrated from a child's perspective, but she has also used that point of view to reveal the desperate situation of those who live in India's slums".

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 The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor ...

for Best Novel

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line 2020 debut novels Indian bildungsromans Chatto & Windus books Indian English-language novels Novels set in India Edgar Award–winning works