Shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award Winner of the Best First Book Commonwealth WritersÕ Award for the Eurasia region. In a house on a Calcutta street, lit by the half-light of a yellow street lamp, lies a baby, one day old, wrapped in its hospital towel. In the next room sits a man, all alone, writing. Who is this man, at once frightened and determined? What is he writing? Where has the baby come from and where will it go? Tonight, these questions will be answered when the man unravels the dark secrets he has carried all his life. In The Blue Bedspread Raj Kamal Jha’s poetic prose echoes the loneliness of the human condition. ÔEnchanting . . . Jha is not afraid to risk emotion, but he never falls into the trap of sentimentality. That is, in itself, a considerable achievementÕ – Daily Telegraph ÔJha has a real knack for narrative, alternating urgency and delay to the point where his virtuoso handling of the story becomes almost tricksy . . . He is a remarkable writerÕ – Sunday Times ÔA powerful, haunting and sometimes shocking novel that deserves to be read at one sitting and then re-readÕ – Irish Times ÔThis is an incantatory, audacious book, notable for great moments of poignancyÕ – Guardian