When Ron Charles begins a review this way, I pay attention: “Me again, banging on about Sunjeev Sahota. I won’t stop until you read him.” And now that I read this one, I will put his previous works on my list of books to read.
At the center of this novel set in a former coal mining area in the Midlands of the UK is Nayan Olak, a working class Anglo-Indian man as he is running to be general secretary of the union he works for. His opponent is much younger, also of Indian descent, but from a privileged background, a woman who emphasizes the difficulties of race and gender in receiving fair treatment. Many aspects of identity politics come to the fore; one of the more interesting for me is the question of class. Megha chooses to live in an awful neighborhood and has rejected the comforts of her class, but for Nayan, her rhetoric does not change her privilege. The ugly actions of both candidates create a thorough take on the identity politics and the use of social media in running for a position.
The personal story focuses on Nayan’s life. When we meet him, he is caring for his unpleasant, alcoholic father with dementia. Many years previously Nayan’s mother and his son had been killed in a fire in their shop and Nayan’s marriage had not survived the parents’ grief. He seeks to hire Helen, a woman who had returned to their town after years away, to care for his father. She refuses and it becomes clear that Nayan is romantically interested in her. He makes contact with her son, a talented cook who had been involved in a race controversy in their previous location. Nayan hires Brandon, helps him become employed as a cook, and spends time with him biking in the nearby rural area. And yes, Helen and Nayan become a twosome.
Everything becomes greatly complicated as the election heats up and a connection between Nayan’s father and Helen’s mother finally comes out. Some of the story is recounted by another member of that Indian community who had become a successful author in London. He pokes around the distant past, and uncovers more painful truths. Sometimes the storytelling is a bit confusing with this narrator telling part of the story. I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to follow who was who, which can be tricky with an audiobook, but ultimately it was clear enough.
I was completely taken with both aspects of the book, the exploration of identity politics and the story of Nayan’s personal life. Both the turn of events relating to the election and the secrets uncovered by the narrator were not predictable to me.
Sunjeev Sahota, The Spoiled Heart, Viking, 2024, 329 pages (I read the Kindle version). Available in the public library.