Animal's People by Indra Sinha

 

Animal, like almost every other person in his village, is a victim of the American Kampani.  The company that built a factory that made poisons and that had such lax safety requirements that one night a noxious cloud arose and killed off much of the village.  Animal was a baby and lost both his parents.  The poisons in the air twisted his body so that he can only move by walking on all fours, the dream of standing upright only a dream.

Now nineteen, Animal gets by scrounging and stealing, doing what little work he can.  He is known to be bright but insists that he is not human but an animal.  He loves the daughter of the village's former singing star, but she is the girlfriend of the local resistance leader.  That man has spent over a decade trying to bring the company to court in India and to make reparations and clean up the land and water.  

Then Ellie appears.  She is an American doctor and has come to India to open a free clinic.  The resistance leader insists that there is more to her kindness and organizes a boycott of her help.  Ellie tells Animal that she believes he could be helped with an operation and promises to take him to America to get it.  Animal is afraid to believe but can't help but want her help.

When the company is compelled to come to an Indian court after all this time, at first the people are jubilant.  But when a team of American lawyers comes to the village before the court date, it is obvious they are trying to cut a deal with the government.  Zahreel, the resistance leader, goes on a hunger strike and after days is close to death.  Will the village be saved?

Indra Sinha was born in India of British and Indian parents.  He was raised and lives in Britain but has written several books that depict the issues of India.  This book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.  Readers will not be able to resist Animal with his profane outlook, a man hopeful when it seems life should have crushed the hope from him.  The book is based on the 1984 toxic Union Carbide leak in Bhopal, India.  It is recommended for readers of literary fiction.