The Indian Clerk - Softcover

'A loving exploration of one of the greatest collaborations of the past century, The Indian Clerk is a novel that brilliantly orchestrates questions of colonialism, sexual identity and the nature of genius' Manil Suri 'Leavitt brings to life a world of maths and mysticism' Observer 'Impressive ... Leavitt plunges us, like Ramanujan, into a world of academic squabbling and wartime privation' Times Literary Supplement 'Excellent ... His Hardy is a superb creation ... The author also synthesises huge amounts of engrossing period gossip ... the snatches of backbiting and shop-talk richly convey the anxieties of the intellectual climate' Saturday Telegraph

January, 1913, Cambridge. G.H. Hardy - eccentric, charismatic and considered the greatest British mathematician of his age - receives a mysterious envelope covered with Indian stamps. Inside he finds a rambling letter from a self-professed mathematical genius who claims to be on the brink of solving the most important mathematical problem of his time. Hardy determines to learn more about this mysterious Indian clerk, Srinivasa Ramanujan, a decision that will profoundly affect not only his own life, and that of his friends, but the entire history of mathematics. Set against the backdrop of the First World War, and populated with such luminaries as D.H. Lawrence and Bertrand Russell, "The Indian Clerk" fashions from this fascinating period an utterly compelling story about our need to find order in the world.