“The Ivory Throne” by Manu S. Pillai.

It’s a nine-hundred page book of history, about two rival factions of a royal family from my homeland in the mid 1900s. I had originally picked it up to read when it was published a few years ago but had given up as it was so vast and expansive, and went on to read everything else written by the author as well as striking up a casual friendship with him. So this year while I’m taking a hiatus from work I decided to hunker down and read it. Turns out, it’s simply brilliant. The pages turned themselves, it felt like. An arresting and engaging narrative, skillfully told.

I think that’s the whole point. Flawed people are real people, and therefore more interesting. That’s also why the books are so successful with young, growing and adult readers because you gain a different perspective each stage you read them at.