City of Joy is a novel written by Dominique Lapierre. It has been adapted into film by Roland Joffe.
In this novel, the City of Joy is the nickname given to Kolkata, the Indian city. The story revolves around the hearings and misfortunes of Paul Lambert, a young French priest; the struggles endured by Hasari Pal, a rickshaw puller in Calcutta (Kolkata), India; and the experiences of Max Leob, a young American doctor. The book depicts not only the parting of the wealthy from the poor, but also the separation of the diverse levels of poverty, caste divisions, and the dissimilarities of the numerous religions living side by side in the slums. It also touches on the story of Mother Teresa and her Sisters of Mercy. In spite of facing hunger, awful living conditions, disease, bone-breaking work or unemployment, and death, the people strongly believe that life is still precious and worth living, so much so that they name their slum ‘Anand Nagar, which means ‘City of Joy’. This title received the Christopher Award in 1986.
