Shakuntala is a young Indian woman who returns to post-Independence Delhi from Oxford University. Sketching a gallery of fascinating and distinctive characters against a rich background, she draws the contrast between two very different families and their daily lives -- their squabbles, their politics, their love affairs, their expectations. She brings to life the nostalgic Englishman Esmond Stillwood, also the beautiful Gulab and her son Ravi, the elderly Uma, and Shakuntala's family and the neighbours Ram Nath and Lakshmi. A master of both the comic and the serious, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala has constructed a richly ripe Indian comedy of manners. She strips bare that certain section of affluent Indian society which is particularly vulnerable to the seductions of an imperial presence, and brilliantly and wittily crystallizes some of the confusions that bedevilled India at the dawn of Independence.
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About the Author:
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was born in Germany of Polish parents and came to England in 1939 at the age of twelve. She graduated from Queen Mary College, London University, and married an architect. They lived in Delhi from 1951 to 1975. Since then they have divided their time between Delhi, New York and London.
Review:
'A writer of genius ! a writer of world class -- a master storyteller' -- Sunday Times 'A truly astonishing writer' -- Observer 'Magical! ! Jhabvala is one of those rare writers who manages to be simultaneously caustic and loving with her creations' -- Wall Street Journal
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherJohn Murray
- Publication date2004
- ISBN 10 0719561949
- ISBN 13 9780719561948
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages208
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Rating