Western Lane is a 2023 novel by Chetna Maroo, shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It’s in the tradition of stories where children with issues are straightened out by the discipline and purpose found in sport. Described like this the book might sound formulaic, which it’s not. The children involved here are three generally well behaved, quiet girls, struggling with the death of their mother. They have been brought up in the UK, but are very much part of the tightly knit London Asian community in which they live. The three girls are only ‘wild’ when viewed through the perspective of their highly traditional aunt, who thinks wearing shorts and running qualify a girl as ‘wild’.

The story focuses on the youngest girl, Gopi, who responds best to her father’s coping mechanism of playing squash. Attending a local sports club called Western Lane, she enjoys the discipline and focus of squash, becoming fascinated by the sports personalities. Playing with a promising boy, with whom she develops a close connection, Gopi makes rapid progress, so much so that she is entered into a tournament. But hanging in the background of this positive story is the threat that with her mother gone, Gopi might be sent away to live with her Aunt Ranjan, the same aunt who thinks the wearing of shorts is a definition of wild behaviour.

Sport in a story is generally a metaphor for trial and eventual redemption. This is true here, with squash uniquely fitting to the situation of Gopi. Players are tightly confined in an enclosed court. Gopi lives in a tightly knit community, with Aunt Ranjan representing its most conservative aspects. Squash is about discipline, and in a normal sports story this is what a troubled youngster would probably need most. In Western Lane there is, ironically, a compelling sense that rather than self control, Gopi essentially finds freedom through the game. It’s this tension between freedom and restriction that really drives the story. The contradiction is explored in such a way that you might even end up feeling that the universe is a big squash court with the stars as smudges on the walls.

With some books there’s a worry in reviewing them that you might give away what happens at the end. Will Gopi be allowed to play squash long term? Will she get together with her training partner boyfriend? I can’t give away the end in this case, because even in reading the book I don’t know what happens, so enigmatic are the final pages. But by then, you do feel that whatever restrictions life brings along, there is the possibility of making them into a squash court, and whacking balls off the walls in fascinating ways.

Western Lane is an excellent sports book, using a familiar idea to explore unfamiliar territory, both social and philosophical. It’s also a rarity these days in being a story with children as central characters, which doesn’t see itself as only playing to an audience of children. The walls around the classification of this novel are interestingly transparent. Bravo.