The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota is another immigrant book, this one much grittier and more painful than Behold the Dreamers. It tells the story of four Indian immigrants, three young men and one young woman, all trying to make a better life for themselves and their families by finding work in England. Once there, the reality of finding any kind of work is brutal and if they are there illegally, almost impossible.

Sahota follows the lives of these four not quite friends as they intersect and come to depend on each other. An incredible novel, painting a very vivid and often grim picture of the struggles of immigrant life. It also gives a not very pleasant look into Indian culture and caste system.