“Nicola Barker is both prodigiously talented and admirably fearless. I have loved her books. But for some time, I had little or no idea what the point of the story of Sri Ramakrishna was. In fact, he was one of the outstanding men of 19th-century India.”

British novelist, originally from South Africa

Justin Cartwright was a British novelist originally from South Africa. He is known for his fiction, and his work placed him among contemporary writers who wrote across national and cultural settings. Cartwright wrote novels that drew on his background and perspective as a South African-born British author. His reputation rests on fiction rather than on any single public role, and his books are associated with careful observation of character and society.