The Prisoner of Bhopal
By (Author) Tim Walker
Andersen Press Ltd
Andersen Press Ltd
1st May 2024
7th March 2024
United Kingdom
Children
Fiction
Childrens / Teenage fiction: Magical realism / Magical fantasy
Childrens / Teenage general interest: History and the past
Childrens / Teenage social topics: War and conflict issues
Paperback
272
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 17mm
219g
Amil has always dreamed of working at the modern, space-age pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, where he lives. Instead, on his tenth birthday, he is torn from his family and taken to work for Mr Kumar and his cruel son, Jalesh, in their dilapidated printing factory. There, hidden in a trunk, he finds a secret First World War journal. As its pages come to life, they reveal not only why Amil is there, but that he and the journals author his great-grandfather, Sanjiv - share a magical gift: they can read the wind. Its purpose remains a mystery until, one terrible night, the pesticide plant leaks poison gas into the air above Bhopal . . .
"Important, moving, and brilliantly paced, this is a book that will stay with me for a very long time. Amil is both brave and adorable, and his story is engrossing, devastating, and so necessary. Utterly transporting and cleverly woven, I loved the touches of magic and the poetry of the wind" -- Hiba Noor Khan
"A beautifully written and wonderful book" -- Annie Murray, Author and Bhopal Medical Appeal Trustee
Tim Walker was born in Nottingham and lives with his wife and their black and white cat in rural Kent. He turned to writing following a career as a graphic designer and is the author of three previous childrens novels Shipley Manor, The Flying Fizzler and Rise of the Rattler. When not in his garden shed either writing or staring at the horses in the field beyond, he can be found teaching academic skills at the University of Kent where he is a former Royal Literary Fund Fellow visiting one of his three grown-up children or huffing and puffing around his local tennis court.