Nikita Lalwani – författare

In a voice that is by turns very funny and fiercely tender, Gifted by Nikita Lalwani brings us a captivating story of high aspirations and deep longing, and of the sometime loneliness of childhood.Cardiff in the 1980s is a place where maths can get you noticed. Rumis Vasi is the town's 'maths prodigy': untangling numbers and Rubik's Cubes protects her from the harsh vagaries of the playground and gives a pattern to her world. But after years of her father's determined tutoring, Rumi finds that numbers are beginning to lose their innocence. India infuses her with a romantic sense of belonging and, as she grows older, and desire becomes a dirty word in the Vasi household, the idea of love is opened up to painful examination.'A sparkling funny and poignant study of a young maths prodigy struggling with her gift and a difficult family' Gerard Woodward, Books Of The Year, Observer 'Superb, brilliantly realised. The searing narrative is unflinchingly and tenderly written' Independent 'Compelling, heart-wrenching and laced with redemptive hope . . . Touching and funny' Observer Nikita Lalwani was born in Rajasthan and raised in Cardiff. Her first novel Gifted was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and won the Desmond Elliott Prize. She lives in London.

'A moving, authentic, humane novel which raises fundamental questions about what it means to be kind in an unkind world' Guardian____________________________________________The Pizzeria Vesuvio looks like any other Italian restaurant in London - with a few small differences. The chefs who make the pizza fiorentinas are Sri Lankan, and half the kitchen staff are illegal immigrants. At the centre is Tuli, the restaurant's charismatic proprietor and resident Robin Hood, who promises to help anyone in need. Welsh nineteen-year-old Nia, haunted by her troubled past, is running from her family. Shan, having fled the Sri Lankan civil war, is desperate to find his.But when Tuli's guidance leads them all into dangerous territory, and the extent of his mysterious operation unravels, each is faced with an impossible moral choice.In a world where the law is against you, how far would you be willing to lie for a chance to live? ____________________________________________'Intelligent and heart-piercing - an exceptional novel about the Britain we live in, even if we choose not to see it' Kamila Shamsie, author of Home Fire'Asks tough questions about the nature of goodness in an unfair society' Sunday Telegraph BOOK OF THE WEEK'Lively, poetically written and above all compassionate' Sunday Times'A female lead who isn't defined by a romantic story arc? Yes please. Lalwani's serious, ravishing way of writing about the secret life of Britain is just what we need' Times