Shards of Memory - Softcover

Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0385477236 ISBN 13: 9780385477239

Publisher: Anchor, 1996

Synopsis

A young man named Henry sits down with his grandmother, a genial lady still called Baby by everyone, in her Manhattan townhouse where he has lived all his life, to record the history of a spiritual movement that has woven itself into the fabric of their family's lives for four generations. What unfolds is a mesmerizing family saga:  the imperious great-grandmother Elsa and her husband, an Indian poet, whose marriage is as unconventional as the movement they help to found; Baby, their cheerfully pragmatic daughter, married to the aloof English diplomat Graeme; bemused and brooding Renata, Baby and Graeme's daughter, married to an idle dreamer; and finally Henry, Renata's son, who in many ways bears the legacy of all that has gone before. Their lives--and that of the movement's elusive yet ineluctable founder, known only as the Master--intertwine, diverge, and collide with each other in a masterfully orchestrated story spanning the twentieth century and several continents.

By turns brilliantly satiric, insightful, and profoundly moving, Shards Of Memory is a beautifully wrought tale of love and devotion, of family and faith, and of the complex nature of memory itself--a literary tour de force from one of the most distinguished novelists of our time.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"Magical . . . [Jhabvala] is one of those rare writers who manages to mock without sneering, to be simultaneously caustic and loving with her creations. She writes with a simplicity reminiscent of . . . E.M. Forster."--The Wall Street Journal

"Master of her craft."--Anne Tyler, The Boston Globe

From the Inside Flap

A young man named Henry sits down with his grandmother, a genial lady still called Baby by everyone, in her Manhattan townhouse where he has lived all his life, to record the history of a spiritual movement that has woven itself into the fabric of their family's lives for four generations. What unfolds is a mesmerizing family saga: the imperious great-grandmother Elsa and her husband, an Indian poet, whose marriage is as unconventional as the movement they help to found; Baby, their cheerfully pragmatic daughter, married to the aloof English diplomat Graeme; bemused and brooding Renata, Baby and Graeme's daughter, married to an idle dreamer; and finally Henry, Renata's son, who in many ways bears the legacy of all that has gone before. Their lives--and that of the movement's elusive yet ineluctable founder, known only as the Master--intertwine, diverge, and collide with each other in a masterfully orchestrated story spanning the twentieth century and several continents.

By turns brilliantly satiric, insightful, and profoundly moving, Shards Of Memory is a beautifully wrought tale of love and devotion, of family and faith, and of the complex nature of memory itself--a literary tour de force from one of the most distinguished novelists of our time.

Reviews

Booker Prize-winning novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Jhabvala spins a family saga stretching across several generations and continents.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Anchor
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385477236
• ISBN 13: 9780385477239
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224