Indians On Vacation is the latest novel by American-Canadian author Thomas King. Once again, King brings us a book full of his dry wit and sarcasm, even when dealing with heavy subject matters. On the surface this book seemed like it would be a comedy about an Indian couple taking a vacation in Prague. Instead we have a book about an Indian couple and the protagonist, Blackbird (Bird) Mavrias’ anxieties. The way King handles the very serious topic of mental illness by turning anxiety and depression into actual characters is definitely a highlight of this book. He brings to life the monsters that live in the depths of our subconscious and showcases how they can follow us around in our day to day lives but he does so with humour.

The book jumps back and forth between the character’s current vacation in Prague and various moments, both in Bird’s past and the couple’s past. It is done however, in such a way that is easy to follow.

Even though the book works its way through serious topics, such as race, politics and class, it still managed be a book that had me laughing out loud from beginning to end. It reads in such a way that every time I picked it up I felt like I was sitting down with an old friend listening to his vacation stories.

Indians On Vacation, published by Harper Collins, is available now.