SONG

(Unbound £18.99) who sets about his education. Their relationship is the driver for what turns out to be a remarkable story of determination as Song, the outsider, turns his life around — but not without encountering extreme prejudice.

A strong picaresque element powers this saga of a man rising above his origins and above racism.

Its love story, its lush settings and its depiction of old colonial misdemeanours are given additional resonance by the moral fable at its heart.