Rare ability … Chetna Maroo. Photograph: Graeme Jackson
BOOK OF THE DAY
Western Lane by Chetna Maroo review – a tender debut
The tensions of family life are vividly conveyed in this novel of growing pains, grief and squash
Booker prize reveals ‘original and thrilling’ 2023 longlist
Wednesday 26 April 2026
C
hetna Maroo’s debut novel begins a few days after 11-year-old Gopi’s mother’s funeral, which leaves Gopi and her two older sisters in the care of their father. Gopi practises squash every day at Western Lane, a sports centre just outside London. The book ends with her playing the final of the Durham and Cleveland squash tournament. The arc is a Hollywood staple: tragedy, sporting trial, potential triumph. The tension is heightened by squash-obsessed, emotionally uncommunicative Pa; fearful Aunt Ranjan is the obstacle that stands in Gopi’s way. There is a love interest, Ged, whose mother intervenes at just the right moment for the plot (and the wrong moment for Gopi).
