Djinn Patrol depicts a young child who attempts to investigate a mystery involving the disappearance of children from an impoverished slum.[6][7] It tells of children living in a slum in a fictional Indian city who set out to find a classmate who has disappeared.[1][6][8] A reviewer for Kirkus compared the setting to that of
Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers.[9] Anappara's novel makes use of several genres, including
detective fiction,
mystery,
satire, and
Bildungsroman.[10] A review in The New York Times noted that Djinn Patrol "announces the arrival of a literary supernova".[6]
Author
Anappara spent her early life in
Palakkad,
Kerala,
India.[10] She is an Indian writer and journalist. Anappara worked as a journalist in India, reporting on social issues in the state of Gujarat, and in Delhi and Mumbai. Her work has focused on studying the effects of violence and poverty, particularly on young people.[10] Anappara wrote the novel while pursuing a master's degree in creative writing at the
University of East Anglia.[11]Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line was originally written as part of her dissertation for her
Master of Arts degree.[6] The manuscript and publication rights were sold at the
Frankfurt Book Fair,[10] and the novel was the subject of a "hard-fought auction" between multiple publishers, ultimately being sold to
Chatto & Windus and
Random House.[12]
Her work has won several awards for journalism, including the Developing Asia Journalism Awards, the "Every Human has Rights" Media Awards, as well as the Sanskriti-Prabha Dutt Fellowship in Journalism.[3]Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line was shortlisted for the
JCB Prize for Literature in 2020.
Anappara is currently working towards a doctorate in historical fiction at the University of East Anglia.[2][10]
Awards and recognition
Some awards and recognition received by Anappara include: