Fourteen-year-old Ashok Choudhary lives with a drunken and abusive father in a council house in London’s run-down East End. His mother says their crummy existence is down to karma – punishment for a ton of bad deeds they’d done in previous lives. Whatever. Ash thinks his real problem is keeping Sherifa Khan, his Muslim girlfriend, a secret.
But…what the hell is that red stuff on his little sister’s dress?
Blood!
She recites the sickest poem he has ever heard. It can mean only one thing…and the thought is unbearable.
What should he do about it? What can he do? He’s just a kid. Should he just block it out of his mind? Tell someone? Who? What would happen if he blew the whole thing wide open? The consequences would be devastating. The shame of it. Ash is trapped. No one to turn to. His mother is hopeless – a victim herself. “It’s our karma,” she says, her answer for everything.
But Ash refuses to accept all this as fate. To turn a blind eye is not an option. He is a determined kid and he made his sister a promise he intends to keep. Alone, he embarks on a dangerous and violent quest to get his father out of their lives.
The Kiss of Karma is a story of lives wrecked by secrets; of courage and survival; and love and tenderness amidst brutality. It is about a child prepared to do whatever it takes to change destiny. A gripping thriller and a rollercoaster ride of emotions, Ash’s story will resonate in your thoughts.
