The Assassin's Song

The Assassin's Song 
by M.G. Vassanji
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Set against the backdrop of the violence and conflict of 20th century India this is the story of Karsan Dargawalla, a boy who want to be a professional cricket player but is expected to follow in his father's path and become lord of the shrine of a medieval sufi. 
Karsan's journey takes him to Cambridge in the 1960s and various Canadian provinces. Ultimately this novel, which is very well written and full of interesting historic tidbits, is about the search for individual identity. Is our identity predestined or can we make choices that will change who we become? Vassanji examines this question through the character of Karsan. 
The author lives in Toronto. I am counting this book toward the Canadian Book Challenge.