From the acclaimed author of Slumdog Millionaire, one of the biggest films of the decade, comes this compelling, suspenseful tale of the power of dreams, the lure of money and the universal need to know who we are. An ordinary sales girl in Delhi is offered the chance to run a huge Indian company if she passes seven tests... With a brilliant opening line, "In life you never get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate" - we think that you will either love the complex multi-faceted plot or not - so download and read the free Opening Extract.
What would you do if, out of the blue, a billionaire industrialist decided to make you the CEO of his company? No prior business experience necessary. There is only one catch: you need to pass seven tests from the 'textbook of life'. This is the offer made to Sapna Sinha, an ordinary salesgirl in an electronics boutique in downtown Delhi, by Vinay Mohan Acharya, one of India's richest men. Thus begins the most challenging journey of Sapna's life, one that will test her character, her courage and her capabilities. Along the way she encounters a host of memorable personalities, from a vain Bollywood superstar to a kleptomaniac Gandhian. At stake is a business empire worth ten billion dollars, and the future she has always dreamt of. But are the seven tests for real or is Acharya playing a deeper game, one driven by a perverse fantasy?
Vikas Swarup is the author of the bestselling sensation Q&A, which was filmed as the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, and Six Suspects. His novels have been translated into more than forty languages. Vikas Swarup was a judge on 2011's Man Asian Literary Prize. Swarup currently works in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.