Heat and Dust - Softcover

Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1582430152 ISBN 13: 9781582430157

Publisher: Counterpoint, 1999

Synopsis

A profound and powerful novel, winner of the Booker Prize
Set in colonial India during the 1920s, Heat and Dust tells the story of Olivia, a beautiful woman suffocated by the propriety and social constraints of her position as the wife of an important English civil servant. Longing for passion and independence, Olivia is drawn into the spell of the Nawab, a minor Indian prince deeply involved in gang raids and criminal plots. She is intrigued by the Nawab's charm and aggressive courtship, and soon begins to spend most of her days in his company. But then she becomes pregnant, and unsure of the child's paternity, she is faced with a wrenching dilemma. Her reaction to the crisis humiliates her husband and outrages the British community, breeding a scandal that lives in collective memory long after her death.

About this title

About the Author:

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala is the author of twelve novels. Her short fiction has regularly appeared in The New Yorker, and her story collections include East into Upper East and the critically acclaimed Out of India. She is a MacArthur Fellow and has been honored with an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Jhabvala's screenplays for Merchant-Ivory Productions have earned two Academy Awards. She recently completed a screen adaptation of Henry James's The Golden Bowl. Jhabvala and her husband divide their time between Delhi and New York.

Review:

'A superb book. A complex story line, handled with dazzling assurance ... moving and profound. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala has not only written a love story, she has also exposed the soul and nerve ends of a fascinating and compelling country. This is a book of cool, controlled brilliance. It is a jewel to be treasured' -- The Times 'A writer of genius ... a writer of world class -- a master storyteller' -- Sunday Times 'Coolly assured novel ... Written with seek elegance, this book delves into the heart of an unmistakably seductive country' -- The Good Book Guide 20031101 'Her tussle with India is one of the richest treats of contemporary literature' -- Guardian 20031101

About this edition

• Publisher: Counterpoint
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1582430152
• ISBN 13: 9781582430157
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 190