V. S. Naipaul’s graceful novel is a humorous and sensitive vision of the half-lives quietly lived out at the centre of our world.

Half a Life introduces us to the compelling figure of Willie Chandran. Springing from the unhappy union of a low-caste mother and a father constantly at odds with life, Willie is naively eager to find something that will place him both in and apart from the world. Drawn to England, and to the immigrant and bohemian communities of post-war London, it is only in his first experience of love that he finally senses the possibility of fulfilment.

Longlisted
The Booker Prize 2001
Published by
Picador
Publication date
V.S. Naipaul

V. S. Naipaul

About the Author

Novelist and travel writer V. S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad. He studied at Oxford University, then moved to London to work for the BBC.
More about V. S. Naipaul

Other nominated books by V.S. Naipaul

A Bend in the River
In A Free State
Prize winner