Praise for 'Scenes from Early Life': 'An unostentatious tour de force, combining a tender and richly affectionate family memoir with a vividly evoked portrait of town and country life and the story of the birth of a nation. It is full of surprises.' Margaret Drabble 'Beautifully packed with detail ... does for Bangladesh what Salmon Rushdie did for India with "Midnight's Children" ... It is a remarkable re-creation of a land that most of us know little about.' Sunday Times 'This is his most purely pleasurable novel to date.' Daily Mail 'Highly impressive ... for all Hensher's accomplished ventriloquism - his ability to inhabit the voice of a Muslim child and a history teacher at the same time - his own voice is not lost ... heart-breaking.' Guardian 'A deeply interesting book ... The joins are seamless ... It is inventive, clever and loving; a Booker candidate, I would have thought.' Spectator '...this delightful book shows for the first time what Hensher has largely concealed in the past: his heart.' Amanda Craig, Independent on Sunday

Philip Hensher is a columnist for the Independent, arts critic for the Spectator and a Granta Best of Young British novelist. He has written eight novels, including 'The Mulberry Empire' and the Booker-shortlisted 'The Northern Clemency', and one collection of short stories. He lives in South London.