The Blue Notebook - Tapa blanda

this haunting debut will disturb and inspire readers in equal measure. (WATERSTONE'S BOOKS QUARTERLY)

starkly compelling (SUNDAY HERALD)

Never lapsing into mawkishness or self pity, this elegantly crafted novel reminded me of The Diary of Anne Frank... An important book, not easily forgotten. (NEWBOOKS MAGAZINE)

James A Levine paints a picture of innocence and optimism in the face of unbelievable cruelty. (STAR MAGAZINE)

Reading The Blue Notebook, James Levine's fictionalised diary of a Mumbai child prostitute will seize your heart... her plight is beyond bleak, but in the words Batuk pours into her notebook, this starved-sparrow of a heroine finds laughter and salvation. (JEWISH CHRONICLE)

THE BLUE NOTEBOOK, James A. Levine's first novel, tells the haunting story of Batuk, a 15-year old girl whose family, living in the Indian countryside, is in such poverty and debt that she is sold into sexual slavery and lives in a cage on the streets of Mumbai. Batuk is just one of many girls forced into prostitution, but against the odds, she manages to put pen to paper, writing stories of her life that help her transcend and make a certain sense of her daily existence. The novel is powerfully told in Batuk's voice, through the words she writes in her journal. Searing, moving, and surprisingly hopeful, THE BLUE NOTEBOOK explores how people, in the most difficult of circumstances, can use stories to understand and give meaning to their lives.