This tightly-written, short, coming of age novel is centred around the game of squash. The story is told by Gopi, an 11 year old girl of Indian heritage, who has recently lost her mother. She is the youngest of 3 sisters and squash has become an obsession. The theme of the novel is really grief and how this family deals with loss. Maroo is a writer to watch.

This bildungsroman novella about how different people handle grief is well penned but lacks oomph for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this short read by Chetna Maroo. It was a subdued depiction of grief, told from the perspective of a young child. I liked how the story explored family dynamics and loved watching Gopi develop and respond to her surrounding throughout the course of the story. A bit slow-paced and more introspective than plot-heavy, but I'd still recommend.

Content Warnings: grief, loss of a parent (mentioned)

A slim novel (a novella really) about grief. Gopi, the narrator is the youngest of three girls in a family which has just lost its mother. Her father puts the family into squash, thinking it will help but it doesn't really- except for Gopi, who as it turns out, is quite talented. This is surprisingly detached in spots but admittedly, grief is personal to each of us. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. An interesting read.

Western Lane is a beautifully written story about one family coping with the death of its matriarch. There is a claustrophobic quality to the short novel as we are immersed in events from the perspective of Gopi, 11 years old and the youngest of three sisters. Gopi is struggling with the loss of her ma, feeling increasingly distant from her sisters, and confused and worried about her pa and his wellbeing. While Gopi and her sisters played squash recreationally one or twice a week, their father now has them playing all the time. Soon it becomes clear that Gopi has a lot of talent and she spends most of her time on the court.

This was a subtle, lovely exploration of grief and how it gets mixed in/diluted/channeled with all of the other emotions and life transitions Gopi experiences.

Thank you very much to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

Thanks to Netgalley and FSG for the ebook, a close knit Indian family in England loses their mother, leaving behind her husband and three young daughters. The father, in order to distract from the grief and bring some sort of structure to his daughters, vigorously trains them in the sport of squash. The youngest, Gopi, at thirteen, really takes to the sport and shows enough talent to enter a local squash tournament. This short novel moves quickly with rich characters, none better than our young narrator, Gopi, as she watches her family start to slowly crack from their collective grief.