Cover of The Indian clerk
Read Time: ~9.9 hr

The Indian clerk

by David Leavitt (2009)

About this book

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.

Setting / LocationLondon & UK
Story EraModern Era
Protagonist / CoreThe Indian clerk Lead Character

Readers who enjoyed this also loved

Cover of Locked rooms

Locked rooms

Laurie R. King

Mary Russell and her husband Sherlock Holmes are back in Laurie R. King's highly acclaimed New York Times bestselling mystery series. This time the first couple of detection travel to San Francisco to unlock the buried memory of a shocking crime with the power to kill again - lost somewhere in Russell's past.

Cover of The nature of monsters

The nature of monsters

Clare Clark

It is 1718 and, in a small parish near Newcastle, Eliza Tally, a headstrong girl of 15, embarks on a reckless love affair that will prove her undoing. When her lover casts her off, denying their union, she is forced to travel to London, a city that attracts and alarms her in equal measure. There she takes up a position in the house of an apothecary, Grayson Black, whom she trusts to salvage what remains of her reputation.From the highly-acclaimed author of The Great Stink comes a gloriously-written tale of consuming passions and obsessions. Set against the clamour and roar of eighteenth-century London, The Nature of Monsters brings vividly to life a world where the line separating science and madness is dangerously blurred, and where a single life counts for little in the relentless pursuit of progress.

Cover of Shadow-box

Shadow-box

Antonia Logue

The story of 1910s painter Mina Loy, onetime lover of Henri Matisse, and her doomed romance with boxer and art critic Arthur Cravan. It is told through correspondence between Loy and Cravan's friend, black boxing champ Jack Johnson. A look at the world of avant-garde art by an Irish writer.

Cover of The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown

The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown

Julia Quinn ... [et al

Lady Whistledown Tells All!Society is abuzz when the Season's most promising debutante is jilted by her intended -- only to be swept away by the deceitful rogue's dashing older brother -- in New York Times bestseller Julia Quinn's witty, charming, and heartfelt tale.When the scandalous actions of his beautiful fiancee are recorded in Lady Whistledown's column, a concerned groom-to-be rushes back to London to win his lady's heart once and forever, in Suzanne Enoch's enchanting romantic gem.Karen Hawkins captivates with an enduring story of a handsome rogue whose lifelong friendship -- and his heart -- are tested when the lovely lady in question sets her cap for someone else.A dazzling and delightful tale by Mia Ryan has a young woman cast out of her home by an insufferable yet charming marquis -- who intends to take possession not only of the house ... but its former occupant as well!

The Indian clerk by David Leavitt | Literally Just Books