Shantaram – Gregory Roberts

Lin is a convict who escapes his Australian prison and flees to India to hide in the slums among the masses of people living there.  He is eventually caught, and extradited back to Australia, but Shantaram, loosely based on author Gregory Roberts’ life, is the story of the highs and lows of his time in Bombay.

Over the course of the story, Lin sets up a makeshift clinic, works as a mafia agent, finds a lover, is betrayed and seeks revenge, spends time in a Bombay prison and runs guns to Afghanistan.

Shantaram is only the first in a planned series of four books spanning Gregory Roberts’ life and comes in at a whooping 933 pages.

Shantaram is now available as a book group set from Maribyrnong Library.