Skip to content

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara - Reading Guide Booklet

Discover the heart-rending, unforgettable novel longlisted for the Women’s Prize 2020 with Vintage’s Reading Group Booklet.

We would love to see how you use the reading guide on social media using #DjinnPatrol and @VintageBooks.

‘A dazzling, wonderful book’
ELIF SHAFAK

‘The arrival of a literary supernova… Warning: if you begin in the morning, don’t expect to get anything done for the rest of the day’
NEW YORK TIMES

In a sprawling Indian city, three friends venture into the most dangerous corners to find their missing classmate . . .

But what begins as a game turns sinister as other children start disappearing from their neighbourhood. Jai, Pari, and Faiz have to confront terrified parents, an indifferent police force and rumours of soul-snatching djinns. As the disappearances edge ever closer to home, the lives of Jai and his friends will never be the same again.

Drawing on real incidents, here is an extraordinarily moving and flawlessly imagined triumph of suspense.

Longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020
A BBC Radio 2 Book Club with Jo Whiley pick
One of the Observer’s 10 best debut novelists of 2020
Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel
Winner of the Tata Literature Live! First Book (Fiction) 2020
Winner of the Atta Galatta-Bangalore Literature Festival Award
Shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Literature
Shortlisted for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award
Shortlisted for the McKitterick Prize 2021
A New York Times Notable Book of 2020
One of Time magazine’s Must-Read Books

News

The Radio 2 Book Club with Sara Cox

The BBC Radio 2 Book Club returns! Sara Cox – who recently celebrated 25 years on BBC Radio – is the new host of the Radio 2 Book Club, which returned to Radio 2 on Tuesday 8 October. As well as coverage on Sara’s show, and other shows on Radio 2, there will be a weekly podcast on BBC Sounds.

Resources

How to start a reading group

Interested in joining a reading group or starting one of your own? Download our quick guide to getting started. You can also download icebreaker questions to help get your discussion started, and a social media guide to show how you can share your reading with others online.

News

UK’s Best Book Festivals of 2024

The UK is full of book festivals, and as we head into the summer, they’re popping up all over the country and are perfect for your book club to have a day, weekend or even week out. Book festivals are a brilliant opportunity to hear from your favourite writers, discover new ones, and meet other like-minded booklovers. You’ll be sure to walk away with a bag full of new books to enjoy! We’ve put together a list of some of our team’s favourite festivals. Can’t see one near you? You can watch...

View our other programmes