Boundary Road

Ami Rao

From Shelf: Jhalak Prize for British BAME writers: Longlist 2024

SHORTLISTED FOR THE JHALAK. Nora and Aron are on the bus heading for Boundary Road, but this is a journey full of the unexpected. They don't know each other, not yet, but life has a way of throwing things at you. A powerful story of love, dreams and hope.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE JHALAK. A story of colliding lives, beguiling opportunities, and reckless illusions. A compelling blend of comedy and tragedy. Love, desire, fear, and dreams on a London bus: we're on the thirteen, heading for Boundary Road. People get on and off leaving something of themselves behind, but two of the passengers have past they can't escape. People can't stop talking. A giddy cocktail of monologues, dialogues, memories and gleeful anticipation. It's amazing what people will say to total strangers. Suddenly the unsayable just trips off the tongue and there's so much feeling behind it; hours of thought, sprinkled with melancholy or sharp blades of aggression. While some just accept what life offers, others react with dangerous determination. A man haunted by his past and the many pasts of his family, but in love with the present; all that's greeting his senses right now. He's charming but he's got a secret waiting to catch up with him. A woman stifled by lack of affection but determined to do what's right. A man obsessed with architecture and in love with a painting. For most, it's a liberating opportunity to exchange confidences with a stranger, but for two of passengers this journey will be unexpectedly life changing.