‘An unostentatious tour de force, combining a tender and richly affectionate family memoir with a vividly evoked portrait of town and country life and the story of the birth of a nation. It is full of surprises’ Margaret Drabble ‘Beautifully packed with detail … does for Bangladesh what Salmon Rushdie did for India with Midnight’s Children … It is a remarkable re-creation of a land that most of us know little about’ Sunday Times ‘This is his most purely pleasurable novel to date’ Daily Mail ‘Highly impressive … for all Hensher's accomplished ventriloquism – his ability to inhabit the voice of a Muslim child and a history teacher at the same time – his own voice is not lost … heart-breaking’ Guardian ‘A deeply interesting book … The joins are seamless … It is inventive, clever and loving; a Booker candidate, I would have thought.’ Spectator ‘…this delightful book shows for the first time what Hensher has largely concealed in the past: his heart’ Amanda Craig, Independent on Sunday

• With his trademark wit and remarkable eye-for-detail, Philip Hensher brings to life an unusual childhood in Bangladesh, in this sweeping semi-biographical novel. • Philip Hensher is the bestselling author of The Mulberry Empire (just under 40,000 TCM) and The Northern Clemency (over 30,000 TCM). • Scenes from Early Life received widespread media interest as Philip’s first novel in a decade to be set outside small-town Britain. Competition: Fine Balance; Fine Balance; The Words In My Hand; The Dark Flood Rises; The Essex Serpent. Salman Rushdie;Salman Rushdie; Guinevere Glasfurd; Margaret Drabble; Sarah Perry;