Summary of Shantaram

Shantaram is a 2003 novel by Gregory David Roberts, in which the narrator, Lin, is a convicted Australian bank robber and heroin addict who escapes from prison and flees to India. In the novel, Lin finds refuge in the teeming streets of Mumbai, where he reinvents himself as an unlicensed doctor and provides an extensive range of services to the slum dwellers of the city. He also becomes involved in the thriving underground economy of the city and finds himself working as a gunrunner, counterfeiter, smuggler, and even a small-time mobster. Throughout the novel, Lin struggles to reconcile his criminal past with his newfound life in India, as well as to find redemption and meaning in his life.