You People

March 29, 2021
A London pizzeria owner helps undocumented people in the nuanced latest from Lalwani (Gifted). Nia, a Welsh-Indian 19-year-old, waits tables at Vesuvio, recently free from a childhood spent caring for her younger sister and neglectful, alcoholic, and drug-addicted mother. Shan, a Sri Lankan cook, is in debt to Vesuvio’s owner, Tuli, who set up Shan with a job and place to stay after he escaped from Sri Lanka and left his wife and child behind. Shan frequently wonders what motivated Tuli to help him, and what Tuli wants in return (“It became apparent over time that in order to borrow from this man, he was going to have to sit with him again and again, to what end?”). Meanwhile, Nia and Tuli discuss how to choose which people to help as Immigration Police scour the city. Their grasp on a sense of what’s right and wrong is further tested as Tuli and Shan get closer to locating Shan’s family in Sri Lanka through Tuli’s contacts. The descriptions of immigration issues are powerful, and so is Lalwani’s deep immersion in restaurant life: the gossip, the personalities among regulars and staff, and the surrogate family dynamics. Lalwani’s story surges with passion, intrigue, and a rigorous eye toward British immigration policy. Agent: Jacqueline Ko, Wylie Agency.

April 1, 2021
This compact yet powerful novel illuminates the refugee crisis through the lives of workers at a small London pizzeria. Shan works in the kitchen with fellow Sri Lankan refugees who are fleeing civil war and have yet to obtain legal status. Forced to leave his wife and son behind, he is desperately trying to find a way to reunite the family. Nia, 19, is Welsh; she has also fled a troubled past and now looks to her coworkers to provide a sort of family. They are all looked after by the restaurant's owner, Tuli, whose desire to help gets him involved in all kinds of shady business with questionable characters. The narration alternates between Shan and Nia, and the story comes to a head as Nia becomes involved in the dangerous business of helping Tuli find Shan's family. Lalwani matches story and pacing perfectly, interspersing leisurely days at the restaurant with intense scenes: an immigration police raid, Nia's harassment by a drunk customer, a clandestine gas-station meeting. This timely and adept novel deserves wide readership.

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