In the celebrated writer Arundhati Roy's entrancing new novel Anjum makes a precious discovery among the political activists at the Jantar Mantar. It isn't long, though, before fate intervenes and once again snatches her joy away. The reader is Indira Varma.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is Arundhati Roy's first novel since her celebrated debut The God of Small Things which won the Booker Prize in 1997. The inhabitants of an old graveyard in Delhi are among a host of vivid characters whose lives become inextricably linked in the quest for hope, and most of all love, despite the hardest of circumstances. Later the story takes listeners to Kashmir before returning once more to Delhi in the search for happiness.

To hear Front Row's interview with Arundhati Roy about writing The Ministry of Utmost Happiness and for new features and archive programmes about her life and work visit the Radio 4 website. While you're there, if you've missed an episode or you would like to listen ahead you can also find out how to download all fifteen episodes.

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard. Show less