The Fallen

Synopsis

A love story across continents and faiths, in the long shadow of war.

Abruzzo, autumn 1943. Rana Ranjit Singh, a Sikh officer escaped from an Indian Army POW camp, takes refuge in a remote farmhouse. The girl who finds him at the point of a pitchfork – sixteen-year-old Zola Sabatini – and her mother Judith hide him through the German occupation. What grows between them is fierce and unspoken. When the Germans arrive at the farm, everything they have begun to build is broken in a single night. He writes to her for five years; she never replies. Now he is going back to find out why. A luminous, devastating love story from the author of the prize-shortlisted Belonging.

Praise for Previous Work

‘Finely wrought prose and expert characterisation … its focus on the search for love and connection in a chaotic, divided society is hugely affecting.’ —Anthony Quinn, judge of the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award 2016

‘An important novel, told beautifully with arresting delicacy and sensitivity.’ —Jacob Ross

‘Captivating … Sinha is simply one of the best storytellers I’ve come across in a very long time.’ —Kadija Sesay

‘A big-hearted book from an author who can write with luminous delicacy and unflinching, visceral immediacy.’ —Catherine Smith

‘Reading Belonging is a deeply felt, mesmerising experience.’ —Historical Novel Society

‘One of the most gripping, engrossing, heart-in-mouth novels I’ve read … an outstanding first novel.’ —Shiny New Books

‘My heartfelt congratulations on Belonging. It is, to put it simply, magnificent. A wonderful, wonderful book.’ —Ben Kane