Such a Long Journey

Such a Long Journey, first published in 1991, is set in Bombay in 1971, against the backdrop of the crisis that led to the Indo-Pakistani war and the creation of Bangladesh. Gustad Noble is a devoted bank clerk and family man, proud of the ordered, careful life he's built despite years of setbacks and a difficult, often tragic history.

That careful order begins to unravel when Gustad's estranged friend Jimmy Bilimoria draws him into an illicit government scheme, entangling him in corruption and political intrigue far beyond his own quiet neighborhood. At the same time, Gustad's family is fraying: his son rebels against the path chosen for him, and his daughter's health suddenly declines. Rohinton Mistry weaves Gustad's personal crises together with the upheaval of a nation, following one honest man trying to hold his life and his principles together as everything around him changes.