MappingsIn this, Vikram Seths first book of poems, we are introduced to work written in his twenties, when he was a student in England and, later, California. These poemsabout love, life and landscapeare intimate, inventive and immediate. Interspersed with poems are translations of a poem each by Du Fu (Chinese), Faiz Ahmed Faiz (Urdu), Heinrich Heine (German) and Suryakant Tripathi Nirala (Hindi). The poems in Mappings enchant and impress with their

'A rich archive of ripping yarns

and when she hears of a Steelblood plot to assault the palace

which puts them both in danger

Blake and Farrah shouldn't have fallen for each other the way they did: totally

but branding is here to stay

Magical Winter Solstice Ball

' So nothing can prepare them for the pale young woman who sits before them

recent astonishing archaeological finds and the latest DNA studies

'ONE OF BRITAIN'S BEST JOURNALISTS WRITING ABOUT SOCIAL JUSTICE' MARIANA MAZZUCATO

and to avenge his mother's brutal murder

during and after the sensational events of 1963

'Engrossing' Professor Ben Garrod