The Property of Rain, Angela Lambert. (Black Swan, £6.99)

SAM Savage was born in rural Suffolk, the youngest son of a farm worker. It is 1921, the Great War is over, but its aftermath is still casting great shadows.

Sam's father, Abel is one of the unspoken casualties. Unable to speak of the terrible things he saw and did in the name of patriotism, he uses alcohol to numb his senses. The once gentle countryman became a sullen, silent and sometimes violent-tempered man.

Sam, conceived by a despairing Flora, miserable with the changes in her husband, finds solace in the seventh and last baby she produces.

A country up-bringing with the constancy of siblings, makes for an almost idyllic childhood.

In Kampur, north west India, Sukhia, wife of Prem, an untouchable, delivers her fourth daughter.

Born on a holy day, they call her Lakshmi after the lotus goddess, bringer of wealth and prosperity. The family are very poor, and their caste the lowest of the low.

The fate of these two babies is intertwined in the future, and their up-bringing entirely different.

At the age of 15 their lives become inextricably intertwined. Their fate will have disastrous and life-long consequences.

The book, written with a passionate and precise hand, brings together two totally different lives with a collision of tragic outcome.

Angela Lambert has done her research and translates the circumstances of the two cultures into readable prose.

The whole situation is the result of hatreds borne by others, and subsequently taken on by Sam.

It is a great read, and certainly makes food for thought.

Annie Dendy